Edible Mushrooms as Neuro-nutraceuticals: Basis of Therapeutics

Mushrooms, the macro-fungi with distinctive fruiting bodies and mycelia, are valued throughout the world not only for their nutritive values but also for their medicinal uses. The former desirable property of mushrooms derives out of their rich contents of vitamins, trace elements, and minerals and appetite-enhancing flavors, but the therapeutic values result from its antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities, from its ability to activate very specific neuronal receptors, and from its capacity to rejuvenate cellular metabolism. Reactive oxygen species cause extensive damage to cells and tissues by interfering with normal metabolism, which are aggravated during stressful environments, such as during infections, stress, metabolic diseases, and various degenerative disorders including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and accelerated or normal aging. Mushrooms contain many biologically dynamic compounds, some of which are neuroactive substances, free radical scavengers, anti-apoptotic factors, and nerve growth factor stimulators that exert positive effects on brain cells, all of which essentially qualify them as good neuro-nutraceuticals that help in the protection of different neural cells, in vivo and in vitro. While discussing the neuroprotective and neuromodulatory properties of mushrooms, we rationally postulate here indirect benefits of these fungi through the enhanced environment for gut microbiome that are meaningful for healthy brain functions.