Overview:
Sparassis mushroom (Sparassis crispa), also known as the “Coral Mushroom” in Eastern Asia and the “Cauliflower Mushroom” in North America, are a medicinal mushroom that has been increasingly cultivated due to its potential value in traditional medicine. Believed to contain a significant amount of soluble beta D-glucan, the Sparassis mushroom extracts supports a healthy blood sugar level (1), restores normal cellular immunity(2), and promotes quality of life (3).
Active Constituents:
While many clinical investigations are in progress to find out about the agent responsible for Sparassis mushroom’s health benefits, it is documented that soluble Beta D-Glucan and complex polysaccharides based on heteroglycans are the ones help to promote a normal immune response (4)
Pharmacological and Clinical Research: Original Research on Sparassis crispa.
References:
1. Kimura et al., Effects of medicinal mushroom (Sparassis crispa) on wound healing in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats., Am J Surg. 2009 Apr;197(4):503-9.
2. Harada T, Ohno N., Contribution of dectin-1 and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to immunomodulating actions of beta-glucan., Int Immunopharmacol. 2008 Apr;8(4):556-66.
3. Sugitachi et al., Sparassis crispa as biological response modifier., Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2004 Oct;31(11):1761-3.
4. Nameda et al., Enhanced cytokine synthesis of leukocytes by a beta-glucan preparation, SCG, extracted from a medicinal mushroom, Sparassis crispa., Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2003 Aug;25(3):321-35.
