Edible Mushroom Polysaccharides as Functional Food Ingredients for Metabolic Health: Preparation, Techno-Functional Behavior, and Requirements for Translation.
5 affiliations
- 1Sericulture Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230061, China.
- 2Edible and Medicinal Mushroom Innovation Centre, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230061, China.
- 3Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China.
- 4Public Teaching Department, Discipline of Food Nutrition and Health, Anhui Finance & Trade Vocational College, Hefei 230601, China.
- 5Institute of Agro-Products Processing, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China.
Abstract
Edible mushroom polysaccharide (EMP) preparations have repeatedly improved glycemic control, adiposity, lipid homeostasis and hepatic lipid accumulation in animal models, and luminal assays and microbiota-perturbation experiments support the routes involved. Selected preparations also thicken, emulsify, retain water and modify food matrices. Yet these findings rarely concern the same material: metabolic, mechanistic and techno-functional studies usually examine different preparations, and retained function is seldom assessed after formulation, processing and digestion. This narrative review uses preparation identity, defined by biological source, processing route and resulting material characteristics, to integrate preparation chemistry, gastrointestinal mechanisms, animal and human outcomes, food-system behavior and food-use considerations. Molecular size, solubility, hydration, binding and fermentability provide a shared physicochemical basis for food-matrix performance and gastrointestinal interactions. Animal doses, human intakes and food-matrix loadings overlap at gram scale, which leaves functional delivery as the unresolved step. Controlled human trials are still few, small and dissimilar in design, so translation remains to be tested. The central question is therefore whether a reproducible EMP preparation can retain its intended function in an acceptable food and produce matched human outcomes. Progress depends on following the same characterized preparation from production and food incorporation through processing, consumption and human evaluation.
Related
- Anti-inflammatory potential of Astragalus polysaccharides: structural characteristics, mechanisms and clinical translation
- Generative artificial intelligence in the preparation of scientific medical articles on surgery: principles of responsible use and current requirements of editorial organisations
- Integrated processing of agro-industrial by-products into functional bioactive ingredients for sustainable food and health applications
- Valorization of Beetroot and Watermelon by-Products as Functional Ingredients Targeting Nitric Oxide Pathways: Implications for Cardiovascular Health.
- Polysaccharides from Algerian Opuntia ficus-indica Cladodes: Structural Characterization, Functional properties, and Cytotoxic Effects on U87 Human Glioblastoma Cells
BibTeX
@article{chen2026edible,
title = {{Edible Mushroom Polysaccharides as Functional Food Ingredients for Metabolic Health: Preparation, Techno-Functional Behavior, and Requirements for Translation.}},
author = {Ming Chen and Ruifan Zou and Jie Chen and Yuping Zhang and Huan Diao and Yayuan Xu},
journal = {Foods (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/foods15193514},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883621},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Edible Mushroom Polysaccharides as Functional Food Ingredients for Metabolic Health: Preparation, Techno-Functional Behavior, and Requirements for Translation.
AU - Ming Chen
AU - Ruifan Zou
AU - Jie Chen
AU - Yuping Zhang
AU - Huan Diao
AU - Yayuan Xu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/foods15193514
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883621
AB - Edible mushroom polysaccharide (EMP) preparations have repeatedly improved glycemic control, adiposity, lipid homeostasis and hepatic lipid accumulation in animal models, and luminal assays and microbiota-perturbation experiments support the routes involved. Selected preparations also thicken, emulsify, retain water and modify food matrices. Yet these findings rarely concern the same material: metabolic, mechanistic and techno-functional studies usually examine different preparations, and retained function is seldom assessed after formulation, processing and digestion. This narrative review uses preparation identity, defined by biological source, processing route and resulting material characteristics, to integrate preparation chemistry, gastrointestinal mechanisms, animal and human outcomes, food-system behavior and food-use considerations. Molecular size, solubility, hydration, binding and fermentability provide a shared physicochemical basis for food-matrix performance and gastrointestinal interactions. Animal doses, human intakes and food-matrix loadings overlap at gram scale, which leaves functional delivery as the unresolved step. Controlled human trials are still few, small and dissimilar in design, so translation remains to be tested. The central question is therefore whether a reproducible EMP preparation can retain its intended function in an acceptable food and produce matched human outcomes. Progress depends on following the same characterized preparation from production and food incorporation through processing, consumption and human evaluation.
SN - 2304-8158
ER -