Lentinus edodes (shiitake) is a basidiomycete that has been consumed for more than 2000 years because of its nutritional value and health benefits. It has a low lipid content, high fiber content, and a considerable amount of proteins; it also contains B vitamins and minerals in addition to a wide range of functional metabolites including polysaccharides, polysaccharopeptides, lectins, and secondary metabolites with bioactivity, e.g., lentinan, a β-(1-3)-glucan with immunomodulatory activity, among others. Extracts and pure compounds of shiitake exhibit antibacterial, antifungal, cytostatic, antioxidant, anticancer, and immunomodulatory activity. Because of these attributes, different products derived from shiitake are on the market and are sold as dietary supplements. The traditional substrate for shiitake production is oak wood, yet the search for unconventional substrates has intensified over the past three decades. In particular, submerged cultivation of medicinal mushrooms has attracted great interest because it enables greater control of different fermentation factors to obtain products of interest. However, it is necessary to perform in vivo studies to determine the appropriate doses, side effects, and action spectrum of different bioactive compounds and fractions as well as to improve their production in liquid media and to potentiate their activity. We present an updated review of existing studies on the production of biomass and bioactive compounds of L. edodes in liquid culture and on solid fermentation for obtaining secondary mycelia and basidiomata.

The chemical changes in barley-straw (BS), wheat-straw (WS) and vineyard-pruning (VP) substrates were determined during colonization of Lentinula edodes mycelia (during primordium development) in solid state fermentation. Primordia appeared 39-50 days after inoculation. VP appeared to promote early sporophore initiation. The concentration of hemicellulose in BS and VP decreased gradually from 25.5% to 15.6% and from 15.8% to 12.3%, respectively. However in WS, hemicellulose decreased from 27.2% to 9.5%. Lignin broke down continuously in BS and WS, with 31.8% and 34.4% degradation, respectively; higher than that of cellulose. During the pinning stage, the C:N ratio decreased in VP and BS, but not in WS. On all substrates the phenols decreased notably throughout the first week of mycelial growth. The time elapsed (days) to pinning was positively correlated with cellulose content (r=0.89), total sugar (r=0.85) and inversely correlated to lignin (r=-1.00) and phenol content (r=-0.55).

Se estudiaron siete especies de Ganoderma : G. applanatum , G. curtisii , G. lobatum , G. oerstedii , G. sessile , G. sessiliforme y G. weberianum . De ellas, G. lobatum y G. oerstedii son nuevos registros para Sonora, mientras que G. sessile y G. weberianum para México. El género tiene una amplia distribución en Sonora, en donde se encuentra en bosque de encino, encino-pino, pino-encino, encino abierto e incluso en zonas xerófilas con mezquital. Ganoderma oerstedii se encontró en la base de Stenocereus thurberi , que lo hace el primer registro sobre una cactácea.