Shiitake Mushrooms: Whole, Dried: 1/2 lb: F
Fungi perfecti offers organically grown dried Shiitake Mushrooms, slow cured via our unique low-temperature process. Shitake is a legendary gourmet treat. It is also one of the most thoroughly researched and documented medicinal mushrooms. Not only do they have excellent nutritive value; they also are the source of at least two important components with proven pharmacological effects--LEM (Lentinula edodes mycelium extract) and Lentinin. These two components have demonstrated strong antitumor activity. Today the shiitake is recognized for its antitumor action and is the most researched mushroom in regard to its immunological activity. The initial antitumor research was performed in 1969 by Tetsuro Ikekawa at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, along with colleagues at the National Cancer Center Research Institute in Tokyo. The researchers found that water extracts of shiitake and several other mushrooms collected in the wild produced high rates of tumour inhibition in mice (72 to 92%)8. Ikekawa later identified a polysaccharide in shiitake called lentinan as having powerful antitumor activity. Lentinula is one of the most highly regarded herbal remedies in traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine. Used for centuries in Asia as food and remedy, it is one of the mushrooms that are now being drawn to the West's attention. Research suggests there are thousands of semiessential, nonvitamin factors in plant foods that protect against diseases. Many of these compounds, called phytonutrients, appear to slow, stop or reverse the multiple pathological processes involved in cancer development. Their disease-fighting potential is so promising that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Md., has allocated millions of dollars to find, isolate and study such phytonutrients. Part of any positive medicinal effects of shiitake may result from it serving as a dietary supplement, particularly the provision of various amino acids such as isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and valine, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B12 and also mineral salts. Regular intake may prevent rickets, especially in infants, which could be due to a disorder of phosphorus and calcium metabolism caused by vitamin D deficiency. This is because Lentinula edodes contains the provitamin ergosterol, which is not present in much quantity in vegetables, but is converted to vitamin D in presence of sunlight. Vitamin D increases resistance against illnesses and has preventive and curative effects on colds. Lentinula edodes also contains adenine and choline, which may prevent the occurrence of cirrhosis of the liver as well as vascular sclerosis. Tyrosinase contained in Lentinula edodes tends to lower blood pressure. Two other constituents which have been isolated from Lentinula edodes which tend to reduce serum cholesterol are: C6H11O4N5 and C9H11O3N5, namely [2(R ), 3(R )–dihydroxy- 4-(9-adenyl)-butyric acid and 2(R )-hydroxy-4-(9-adenyl)-