Edible and medicinal fungi, a group of eukaryotic organisms with numerous varieties, including Coriolus versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps sinensis, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Grifola frondosa, have been demonstrated to possess a board range of pharmaceutical properties, including anti-virus, anti-inflammation, and neuroprotection. Moreover, edible and medicinal fungi have been traditionally consumed as food to provide multiple nutrients and as drugs owing to having the activities of invigorating blood circulation, reinforcing the healthy qi, clearing away heat, and eliminating stasis for thousands of years in China. Malignant tumors, well-known as the second leading cause of death globally, accounted for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. Thus, in-depth exploration of strategies to prevent and treat cancer is extremely urgent. A variety of studies have reported that the main bioactive components of edible and medicinal fungi, mainly polysaccharides and triterpenoids, exhibit diverse anticancer activities via multiple mechanisms, including inhibition of cell proliferation and metastasis, induction of apoptosis and autophagy, reversing multidrug resistance, and regulation of immune responses, thus suggesting their substantial potential in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Our review summarizes the research progress on the anticancer properties of edible and medicinal fungi and the underlying molecular mechanism, which may offer a better understanding of this field. Additionally, few studies have reported the safety and efficacy of extracts from edible and medicinal fungi, which may limit their clinical application. In summary, there is a need to continue to explore the use of those extracts and to further validate their safety and efficacy.

Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Polygonatum genus, belonging to the Liliaceae family, with significant medicinal and nutritional value. In China, this species is a traditional medicinal and edible herb with a long history of application and is widely appreciated by the people. However, as the demand for medicinal herbs continues to grow, excessive harvesting has led to the depletion of wild resources and the risk of genetic erosion. In addition, the chaotic cultivation of varieties and the lack of high quality germplasm resources have led to inconsistent quality of medical materials. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct genetic diversity evaluation of this species and establish a sound conservation plan. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of 96 samples collected from seven regions in China using the simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular marker technology. In this study, a total of 60 alleles (Na) were detected across the 10 polymorphic SSR markers used, with an average of 6.0 alleles generated per locus. The values of polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.3396 to 0.8794, with an average value of 0.6430. The average value of the effective number of alleles (Ne) was 2.761, and the average value of the Shannon’s information index (I) was 1.196. The population structure analysis indicates that the Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua germplasm can be classified into three subpopulations (JZ, QY, JD) at the molecular level, which corresponds to the previous subgroups identified based on individual plant phenotypic traits. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed that 74% of the genetic variation was between individuals within populations in different regions. The phylogenetic analysis of the 96 germplasm samples divided them into three main populations. The QY and JD subpopulations are largely clustered together, which could be attributed to their mountainous distribution and the local climate environment. The genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) value was low at 0.065, indicating relatively low population differentiation. The ratio of the genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) between the JZ population and the other two populations (QY and JD) is much higher than the ratio between the QY and JD populations. Based on the clustering results and the ratio of the genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst), it can be inferred that the genetic relationship between the QY and JD subpopulations is closer, with a certain degree of genetic differentiation from the JZ subpopulation. This study supports the conservation of germplasm resources of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua in China and provides new parental material for germplasm genetic improvement and breeding programs.

We wanted to explore a new method for the determination of monosaccharides in Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua polysaccharide using the ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole trap tandem mass spectrometry. In this study, hydrochloric acid was used instead of trifluoroacetic acid to hydrolyze polysaccharides, and hydrolysis time was greatly reduced from 5–9 h to 1 h. The 1‐phenyl‐3‐methyl‐5‐pyrazolone was used for pre‐column derivatization of monosaccharides. The parameters of linearity (R² > 0.999), stability (1.63–2.52%), intra‐day and inter‐day precision (0.69–0.95%, 1.81–2.77%), repeatability (1.89–2.65%), and recovery (97.63–102.24%) of the method were verified. Satisfactory validation results showed this method could be used to determine the target components. The results indicated the polysaccharide contained glucose, mannose, rhamnose, galactose, ribose, and arabinose. Technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution and principal component analysis were used to build an evaluation model based on the monosaccharide composition. The evaluation results showed that the samples from the Qingyang County of Anhui Province were the best when the monosaccharides were used as the evaluation index. Therefore, a new method was established to detect the monosaccharide content of polysaccharides from Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua and comprehensively evaluate the quality of Chinese medicines with polysaccharides as the main active ingredient.

It is generally believed that fresh Dendrobium officinale (FDO) has more significant pharmacological activity than dried Dendrobium officinale (DDO); however, the difference has not been clearly shown. Our study compared their antioxidant properties both in vitro and in vivo, and the molecular weight arrangement and monosaccharide composition of the fresh Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides (FDOPs) and the dried Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides (DDOPs) were analyzed by HPLC-GPC and GC-MS. The results showed that the FDO and its polysaccharides had more significant effects on scavenging DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radicals than the DDO. In addition, both the FDO and DDO significantly reduced lipid peroxidation levels and increased the SOD, T-AOC, CAT, and GSH levels in mice with acute liver damage caused by CCl₄, while the FDO and its polysaccharides were more effective. Histopathological analysis further verified the protective effect of the Dendrobium polysaccharides on CCl₄-induced liver injury. The determination of the polysaccharides revealed that the polysaccharide and mannose contents of the FDO were significantly higher than their dried counterparts, and the homogeneous arrangement of the polysaccharides in the FDO was degraded into three polysaccharide fragments of different molecular weights in the DDO. Overall, our data identified differences in the antioxidant activities of the FDO and DDO, as well as the reasons for these differences.

Dendrobium huoshanense C. Z. Tang et S. J. Cheng polysaccharide (DHP) is the essential active ingredient of D.huoshanense and has high medicinal value. A high dose of D-galactose (D-gal) is commonly utilized in the aging model establishment. In this study, we explored whether DHP shields PC12 cells and aging mice from D-gal caused damage and the possible mechanism. In vitro experiments, D-gal induced PC12 cells were used to investigate, and then DHP was used for treatment. In vivo experiments, 72 SPF ICR male mice were randomly divided into six groups (control: normal saline; model: D-gal (400 mg/kg); VE group: VE (50 μg/ml); DHP groups: D-gal + DHP (15.6 mg/ml; 31.2 mg/ml; 62.4 mg/ml)). The results showed that DHP could enhance the viability of D-gal injured PC12 cells and prevent cell apoptosis. DHP effectively promoted the transition from phase G0/G1 to phase S and inhibited cell cycle arrest. DHP has a potential neuroprotective effect on D-gal caused cognitive and memory disorders in mice. On the one hand, DHP protects the antioxidant enzymes SOD, GSH-PX, and CAT from excessive ROS buildup. On the other hand, DHP was demonstrated to block the expression of the P53/P21 signaling pathway-related proteins P53, P21, and P16. These results imply that DHP could be a potential neuroprotective agent against aging. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Cognitive and memory decline caused by aging problems has become a problem in recent years. There are many theories about aging, among which oxidative stress is considered to be one of the important pathophysiological parts of various diseases in the aging process. In this study, DHP could not only improve the damage of D-Gal to PC12 cells, but also improve the cognitive and memory impairment caused by D-Gal in mice. In conclusion, this study verified the anti-aging effect of DHP from in vitro and in vivo experiments, and its mechanism may involve the P53/P21 pathway. Therefore, this study indicated that polysaccharides from Dendrobium huoshanense, a traditional Chinese medicine of homologous medicine and food, had potential and industrial value as potential anti-aging drugs.