Monkey Head Mushroom

Scientific name: Hericium erinaceus

Other names: Hegdehog mushroom, Lion mane mushroom

Characteristics:

(1) Fruiting body: 8-40cm across, one unbranched clump of 1-6cm, soft spines hanging from a tough, hidden "base" attached to the substrate

(2) Colour: White that discoloured with age into brownish or yellowish

(Kuo, 2003)

Medicinal Properties:

(1) Will not cause or induce mutation (Wang et al., 2001)

(2) Hyperglycemic effects - lowers blood glucose levels (Wang et al., 2005)

(3) Hyperlipidemic effects - reduces lipid concentrations in serum (Yang, Park & Song, 2003)

(4) Antitumor effects - activates natural killer (NK) cells to destroy cancer cells in the body (Yim et al., 2007)

(5) Effects on the Central Nervous System (CNS):

• Increased myelination process of forming a myelin sheath around a nerve fiber (Kolotushkina et al., 2003)
• Prevention of neuronal cell deaths by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress due to the presence of dilinoleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine inH. erinaceus (Nagai et al., 2006)
• Decreased levels of nerve growth (NGF) in degenerative diseases can be stimulated to secrete in larger amounts due to the presence of erinacines and hericecones (Lee et al., 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. (2003, October). Hericium erinaceus. Retrieved from theMushroomExpert.Com Web site:http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hericium_erinaceus.html

(2) Kolotushkina, E. V., Moldavan, M. G., Voronin, K. Y., and Skibo, G. G. (2003) The influence of Hericium erinaceus on myelination process in vitro.Fiziolohichnyi Zhurnal 49(1): 38-45.

(3) Lee, E. W., Shizuki, K., Hosokawa, S., Suzuki, M., Suganuma, H., Inakuma, T., Li, J., Ohnishi-Kameyama, M., Nagata, T., Furukawa, S. and Kawagishi, H. (2000) Two novel diterpenoids, erinacines H and I  from the mycelia of Hericium erinaceus. Bioscience Biotechnolohy Biochemistry 64(11): 2402-2405.

(4) Nagai, K., Chiba, A., Nishino, T., Kubota, T., and Kawagishi, H. (2006) Dilinoleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine from Hericium erinaceus protects against ER stress-dependent Neuro2a cell death via protein kinase C pathway.Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 17: 525-530.

(5) Wang, J. C., Hu, S. H., Lee, W. L., and Tsai, L. Y. (2001) Antimmutagenicity of extracts of Hericium erinaceus. The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Science 17(5): 230-238.

(6) Wang, J. C., Hu, S. H., Wang, J. T., Chen, K. S., and Chia, Y. C. (2005) Hypoglycemic effect of extract of Hericium erinaceus . Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 85: 641-646.

(7) Yang, B. K., Park, J. B., and Song, C. H. (2003) Hypolipidemic effect of an exo-biopolymer produced from a submerged mycelia culture of Hericium erinaceus. Bioscience Biotechnology Biochemistry 67(6): 1292-1298.

(8) Yim, M. H., Shin, J. W., Son, J. Y., Oh, S. M., Han, S. H., Cho, J. H., Cho, C. H., Yoo, H. S., Lee, Y. W., and Son, C. G. (2007) Soluble components ofHericium erinaceus induce NK cell activation via production of interleukin-12 in mice splenocytes. Acta Pharmacol Sin 28(6): 901-907.