Grey & White Oyster Mushroom

Scientific name:

Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushroom);

Pleurotus sajor-caju (Grey oyster mushroom);

Pleurotus florida (White oyster mushroom)

Characteristics:

(1) Grows in shelf-like clusters

(2) Cap: 4-15cm broad, convex to planar, kidney-shaped or fan-shaped, pale brown to dark brown

(3) White gills

(4) Stubby, nearly absent stem

(5) Whitish to lilac spore print

(Kuo, M. 2005)

Nutritional values:

(1) 15 - 35% protein content (equivalent to an egg or 1/3 of meats)

(2) Vitamins: Vit. C, Vit. B, Niacin

(3) Free amino acids

Medicinal properties:

(1) Lowers lipid concentrations (Hossain et al., 2003)

(2) Lowers blood glucose levels (Khatun et al., 2007)

(3) Antioxidant effect to prevent aging of major body organs (Jayakumar, Thomas & Geraldine, 2007); eg. liver (Jayakumar, Ramesh and Geraldine, 2006)

(4) Prevents proliferation of tumor cells; eg. prostate cancer (Gu & Sivam, 2006)

(5) Presence of lectin to prevent cancer in the connective tissues (sarcoma) and liver (hepatoma) (Wang, Gao, & Ng, 2000)

NOTE : Mushroom is not intended to use as a medicine to treat any illnesses. It is only recommended as food supplement for general health.

Sources :

(1) Kuo, M. (2005, February). Pleurotus ostreatus: The oyster mushroom. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site:http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pleurotus_ostreatus.html

(2) Gu, Y. H. and Sivam, G. (2006) Cytotoxic effect of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on human androgen-independent prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Journal of Medicinal Food 9(2): 196-204.

(3) Hossain, S., Hashimoto, M., Choudhury, E. K., Alam, N., Hussain, S., Hasan, M., Choudhury, S. K.,and Mahmud, I. (2003) Dietary mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) ameliorates atherogenic lipid in hypercholesterolaemic rats. Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology 30(7): 470-475.

(4) Jayakumar, T., Ramesh, E., and Geraldine, P. (2006) Antioxidant activity of the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, on CCl4- induced liver injury in rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology 44: 1989-1996.

(5) Jayakumar, T., Thomas, P. A., and Geraldine, P. (2007) Protective effect of an extract of the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, on antioxidants of major organs of aged rats. Experimental Gerontology 42: 183-191.

(6) Khatun, K., Mahtab, H., Khanam, P. A., Sayeed, M. A. and Khan, K. A. (2007) Oyster mushroom reduced blood glucose and cholesterol in diabetic subjects.Mymensingh Medical Journal 16(1): 94-99.

(7) Wang, H., Gao, J., and Ng, T. B. (2000) A new lectin with highly potent antihepatoma and antisarcoma activities from the oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 275: 810-816.