Lingzhi mushroom

Lingzhi mushroom

-Comon names: Lingzhi mushroom,
-Scientific name: Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.

Scientific classification

-Kingdom: Fungi.
-Phylum: Basidiomycota.
-Class: Agaricomycetes.
-Order: Polyporales.
-Family: Ganodermataceae.
-Genus:Ganoderma P. Karst.
-Species: Ganoderma lucidum
-The neighbour species:G. applanatum, G. brownii, G. curtisii, G. lobatum, G.   multipileum, G. orbiforme, G. philippii, G. pseudoferreum, G. tornatum, G. tsugae, G. zonatum, G. boninense…

a-About Genus Ganoderma

+Ganoderma is a genus of polypore mushrooms which grow on wood and include about 80 species, many from tropical regions.
Ganoderma are characterized by basidiocarps that are large, perennial, woody brackets, also called "conks". They are lignicolous, leathery, and either with or without a stem. The fruit bodies typically grow in a fanlike or hooflike form on the trunks of living or dead trees. They have double-walled, truncate spores with yellow to brown ornamented inner layers.
The genus was named by Karsten in 1881. Members of the family Ganodermataceae were traditionally considered difficult to classify because of the lack of reliable morphological characteristics, the overabundance of synonyms, and the widespread misuse of names. Until recently, the genus was divided into two sections – Section Ganoderma with a shiny cap surface (like Ganoderma lucidum) and Elfvingia, with a dull cap surface, like Ganoderma applanatum.
Phylogenetic analysis using DNA sequence information derived from mitochondrial SSU rDNA, have helped to clarify our understanding of the relationships amongst Ganoderma species.The genus may now be divided into six monophyletic groups:
-G. colossus group
-G. applanatum group
-G. tsugae group
-Asian G. lucidum group
-G. meredithiae group
-G. resinaceum group
In 1905, American mycologist William Murrill delineated the genus Tomophagus  to accommodate the single species G. colossus (then known as Polyporus colossus) which had distinctive morphological features that did not fit in with the other species. Historically, however, Tomophagus has generally been regarded as a synonym forGanoderma. Nearly a century later, phylogenetic analyses vindicated Murrill's original placement, as it has shown to be a taxonomically distinct appropriate genus.
Several species of Ganoderma have been used in traditional Asian medicines (specifically in Korea, Japan and China) for thousands of years. Collectively, the Ganoderma are being investigated for a variety of potential therapeutic benefits: anticancer, immunoregulatory, liver-protecting, hypoglycemic , antibacterial , antiviral and antifungal effect; antioxidant activities,  reducing blood cholesterol, inhibiting blood vessel regeneration (angiogenesis, antifibrotic effects, protection against radiation-induced damage, reducing lower urinary tract symptoms, increasing endurance for vigorous exercise.
+Notable species:
-Ganoderma applanatum - Also known as the Artist's conch.
-Ganoderma lucidum - Also known as Reishi or Lingzhi
-Ganoderma multipileum - the correct name for G. lucidum in tropical Asia
-Ganoderma philippii - A plant pathogen.
-Ganoderma pseudoferreum - Responsible for the root rot of cacao, coffee, rubber and tea trees
-Ganoderma tsugae - A polypore which grows on conifers, especially hemlock; thus the common name, Hemlock varnish shelf. Similar in appearance to Ganoderma lucidum, which typically grows onhardwoods.
+Industry: Ganoderma are wood-decaying fungi with a cosmopolitan distribution, and can grow on both coniferous and hardwood species. They are white-rot fungi, and have enzymes that allow them to break down wood components such as lignin and cellulose. There has been significant research interest in trying to harness the power of these wood-degrading enzymes for industrial applications such as biopulping or bioremediation.

b- Lingzhi mushroom

+Some Asian countries’names
The lingzhi mushroom or reishi mushroom (traditional Chinese:pinyin”:  língzhī;  Japanese: “ reishi”; Vietnamese: “linh chi”; literally: "supernatural mushroom") encompasses several fungal species of the genus Ganoderma, and most commonly refers to the closely related species, Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma tsugae. G. lucidum enjoys special veneration in East Asia, where it has been used as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally. Because of lingzhi's presumed health benefits and apparent absence of side-effects, it has attained a reputation in the East as the ultimate herbal substance. Lingzhi is listed in the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium.
+Taxonomy and names
Names for the lingzhi fungus have a two thousand year history. The Chinese term “lingzhi”was first recorded in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE).
 Petter Adolf Karsten named the genus Ganoderma in 1881.
+Botanical names
The lingzhi's botanical names have Greek and Latin roots. The generic name Ganoderma derives from the Greek ganos "brightness; sheen", hence "shining" and derma "skin".The specific epithet lucidum is Latin for "shining" and tsugae for"hemlock"  (from Japanese Tsuga ).
+English names
English lingzhi or ling chih (sometimes misspelled "ling chi" from French EFEO Chinese transcription) is a Chinese loanword.
The Oxford English Dictionary gives Chinese "líng divine + zhī fungus" as the origin ofling chih or lingzhi, and defines, "The fungus Ganoderma lucidum, believed in China to confer longevity and used as a symbol of this on Chinese ceramic ware.". The OED notes the earliest recorded usage of theWade-Giles romanization ling chih in 1904, and of the Pinyin lingzhi in 1980. In addition to the transliterated loanword, English names include "glossy ganoderma" and "shiny polyporus".


Lingzhi is a polypore mushroom that is soft (when fresh), corky, and flat, with a conspicuous red-varnished, kidney-shaped cap and, depending on specimen age, white to dull brown pores underneath. It lack sgills on its underside and releases its spores through fine pores, leading to its morphological classification as a polypore.


Ganoderma lucidum produces a group of triterpenes, called ganoderic acids, which have a molecular structure similar to steroid hormones. It also contains other compounds many of which are typically found in fungal materials including polysaccharides such as beta-glucan, coumarin, mannitol, and alkaloids.




The Chinese classics first used zhi during the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE) and lingzhi during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).
The word lingzhi was first recorded in a fu "rhapsody; prose-poem" by the Han dynasty polymath Zhang Heng (CE 78–139).
The (ca. 1st-2nd century CE) Shennong bencao jing "Divine Farmer's Classic of Pharmaceutics" classifies zhi into six color categories, each of which is believed to benefit the qi "life force" in a different part of the body:
- qingzhi "green mushroom" for liver, 
-chizhi "red mushroom" for heart, 
-huangzhi "yellow mushroom" for spleen, 
-baizhi "white mushroom" for lung,
-heizhi "black mushroom" for kidney,
-and zizhi "purple mushroom" for essence. Commentators identify this red chizhi (or danzhi "cinnabar mushroom") as the lingzhi.
Chinese pharmaceutical handbooks on zhi mushrooms were the first illustrated publications in the history of mycology. The historian of Chinese science Joseph Needham discussed a no-longer extant Liang Dynasty (502-587) illustrated text called Zhong Shenzhi "On the Planting and Cultivation of Magic Mushrooms".
The (1444) Ming Dynasty edition Daozang "Daoist canon" contains the Taishang lingbao zhicao pin "Classifications of the Most High Divine Treasure Mushroom Plant", which categorizes 127 varieties of zhi. A (1598) Ming reprint includes woodblock pictures.
In Chinese art, the lingzhi symbolizes good health and long life, as depicted in the imperial Forbidden City and Summer Palace. It was a talisman for good luck in the traditional culture of China, and the goddess of healing Guanyin is sometimes depicted holding a lingzhi mushroom.

Research and therapeutic usage

Lingzhi may possess anti-tumor, immunomodulatory and  immunotherapeutic  activities, supported by studies on polysaccharides, terpenes, and other bioactive compounds isolated from fruiting bodies and myceliaof this fungus (reviewed by R. R. Paterson and Lindequist et al.). It has also been found to inhibit platelet aggregation, and to lower blood pressure (via inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme), cholesterol, and blood sugar.
Laboratory studies have shown anti-neoplastic effects of fungal extracts or isolated compounds against some types of cancer, including epithelial ovarian cancer. In an animal model, Ganoderma has been reported to prevent cancer metastasis, with potency comparable to Lentinan from Shiitake mushrooms.
The mechanisms by which G. lucidum may affect cancer are unknown and they may target different stages of cancer development: inhibition of angiogenesis (formation of new, tumor-induced blood vessels, created to supply nutrients to the tumor) mediated by cytokines, cytoxicity, inhibiting migration of the cancer cells and metastasis, and inducing and enhancing apoptosis of tumor cells. Nevertheless, G. lucidumextracts are already used in commercial pharmaceuticals such as MC-S for suppressing cancer cell proliferation and migration.
Additional studies indicate that ganoderic acid has some protective effects against liver injury by viruses and other toxic agents in mice, suggesting a potential benefit of this compound in the treatment of liver diseases in humans, and Ganoderma-derived sterols inhibit lanosterol 14α-demethylase activity in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Ganoderma compounds inhibit 5-alpha reductase activity in the biosynthesis of dihydrotestosterone.
Besides effects on mammalian physiology, Ganoderma is reported to have anti-bacterial and anti-viral activities. Ganoderma is reported to exhibit direct anti-viral with the following viruses; HSV-1, HSV-2influenza virus, vesicular stomatitis.  Ganoderma  mushrooms are reported to exhibit direct anti-microbial properties with the following organisms; Aspergillus niger, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli.
1- From  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia –Lingzhi.
2-"The pharmacological potential of mushrooms.". Lindequist, U.; Niedermeyer, T.H.J. ; Jülich, W.D. (2005). 

Straw mushroom

Straw mushroom

-Vietnamese name: Nấm rơm.
-Scientic name: Volvariella volvacea (Bulliard ex Fries) Singer.
-Comon name: paddy straw mushroom or just straw mushroom.
-Synomym name: syn. Volvaria volvacea, Agaricus volvaceus, Amanita virgata, Vaginata virgata).

Scientific classification



-Volvariella is a genus of mushrooms with deep salmon pink gills and spore prints. The genus is estimated to contain about 50 species.
List of some species of  Genus Volvariella mushrooms:
-Volvariella bombycina
-Volvariella caesiotincta
-Volvariella hypopithys
-Volvariella jamaicensis
-Volvariella lepiotospora
-Volvariella peckii
-Volvariella surrecta
Many sources list Volvariella as a member of the Pluteaceae family, but recent DNA studies have revealed that Pluteus and Volvariella evolved separately and have very different DNA. These studies show that Volvariella is very closely related to "schizophylloid" mushrooms like Schizophyllum commune.
Some species of Volvariella are popular edibles in Europe, accounting for 16% of total production of cultivated mushrooms in the world.
-Volvariella volvacea (also known as paddy straw mushroom or just straw mushroom); is a species of edible mushroom cultivated throughout East and Southeast Asia and used extensively in Asian cuisines.
 In Chinese, they are called “cǎogū” (straw mushroom), in the Philippines they are called “kabuteng saging(mushroom from banana), in Thai they are called “hed fang” and in Vietnamese they are called “nấm rơm”.
They are often available fresh in Asia, but are more frequently found in canned or dried form outside their nations of cultivation.
Straw mushrooms are grown on rice straw beds and picked immature, during the button or egg phase and before the veil ruptures. They are adaptable and take 4-5 days to mature, and are most successfully grown in subtropical climates with high annual rainfall. There is no record of their cultivation before the 19th century.
They resemble poisonous death caps, but can be distinguished by their pink spore print; the spore print is white for death caps. Despite this fact, many people, especially immigrants from South East Asia where the mushroom is common place, have been poisoned making this mistake.
Unfortunately, it is easy to mistake the death cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides), as well as some other Amanita species, for this edible species due to similarities in appearance. This mistake is the leading cause of lethal mushroom poisoning in the United States.
Volvariella and Amanita cannot be distinguished in the early "button stage", that, for many, is considered the best stage to collect Volvariella for consumption. Like Amanita, the paddy straw mushroom has a volva, or universal veil, so called because it is a membrane that encapsulates the entire mushroom when it is young. This structure breaks apart as the mushroom expands, leaving parts that can be found at the base of the stalk as a cup-like structure.
This distinctive species of Volvariella is apparently not native to North America, but it has been introduced to that continent by human activity and can be found in woodchips, compost, greenhouses, and gardens when conditions are right. Volvariella volvacea is a robust species for the genus, featuring a grayish brown cap that is streaked with silky fibrils. The prominent volva at the base of the stem is brown to nearly black.


-Ecology: growing gregariously or in clusters; found in woodchips, greenhouses, gardens, compost piles, and similar locations; capable of appearing year-round, depending on climate but usually found in summer when outdoors; apparently widely distributed (in introduced settings) in North America, but more common east of the Great Plains.
-Cap: 5-16 cm; egg-shaped when young, expanding to convex or broadly conic, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; dry; radially streaked with hairs; gray to brownish gray or grayish brown or nearly black when young, with a paler marginal area; soft; the margin not lined, but often splitting with age.
-Gills: Free from the stem; white becoming pink; close or nearly crowded.
-Stem: 4-14 cm long; up to 2 cm thick; tapering gradually to apex, with a swollen base; dry; whitish or brownish; silky; the base encased in a thick, sack-like volva that is brownish gray to nearly black above and whitish below.
-Flesh: White.

Other features

-Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.
-Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.
-Spore Print: Salmon pink.
-Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10.5 x 4.5-7 µ; more or less ellipsoid, or somewhat ovoid; smooth; inamyloid. Pleuro- and cheilocystidia variously shaped but mostly fusoid-ventricose; to about 115 x 35 µ. Pileipellis elements not gelatinized. Clamp connections absent.


Straw mushroom is one of the best edible mushroom that could be grown in tropical climate within 8-12 days to fruit. It is one of the most highest protein content, fast growing  mushroom.
Thailand is the world largest straw mushroom producer which produce this mushroom more than 600,000 ton per annum. Anonbiotech Centre has been in this business to produce pure culture and active spawn for decades, one could visit their website at or
Some of Shouth East Asia countries produce straw mushroom as a  good and nutritious  food for using in their countries and exporting.
Source: Wiki pedia and



-The Vietnamese names: Móp , Cừa, Ráy gai, Chóc gai.
-The English names: Pimply lasia, unicorn plant.
-The Scientific name: Lasia spinosa L.
-The name means: Lasia spinosa Thwaites.

Pimply lasia (Lasia spinosa L.)


-Ordo: (Alismatales).
-Family: (Araceae).
-Subfamily: (Lasioideae).
-Genus: (Lasia).
-Species: Lasia spinosa


       The Pimply lasia (Lasia spinosa) is a species of flowering plants in their family (Araceae).This species originated from Asia, distributed in low temperate regions in Asia such as China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and tropical Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.

           Apart from denting tree spikes, the other Genus Lasia species also has a similar shape as Lasia concinna species are found in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Young leaves dented tree spikes used as vegetables in many countries of Southeast Asia and was used for all medications, especially liver disease.
            The Pimly lasiai species are exploited as drugs in the U.S. and Europe, are considered rare medicinal plants. According Conservation Society Plant Resources of Southeast Asia (PROSEA FOUNDATION) abbreviated PROSEA was established in Jakarta on 20.06.2007, based in Bogor, Indonesia. The management is coordinated and implemented by a network of organizations in 5 countries in Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), the Pimly lasia trees are very valuable plants should be protected exist.


          The Pimly lasia plant that grows wild in wet areas, on a canopy cover such fields of water, pond, along streams in the semi-submerged environment.
-Body: Shape bloated body types such as bulbs, grow on the ground, bearing many scars leaves and roots.
-Root: Big root , grow deeply and  developed from the ground.
-Leaf: Sheath as the book format, on the edge and back of the book there are many small spikes, soft spikes when his young, when old leaves his sharp spines. Leaf lobes cut form with the original leaflets have grown broadleaf nearly symmetrical.
-Flowers: reaching high up on the leaves, round-stemmed flowers, breaking a block-shaped flowers are buried around the drum is full of flowers.
-Fruit: Fruit cystic form, each carrying a grain of brown rugged image.
Young shoots, young inflorescence, leaf blade, including all copies and made edible. Body, also called tubers, are used as drugs.

The chemical composition

According PROSEA, the chemical composition of Pymly lasia 's leaf and bodies following characteristics:
+ In young leaves rich in ascorbic acid, minerals and vitamins, should be used as vegetables very well. In addition to polyphenols, ascorbic acid also contribute to the antioxidant activity (contributing 34% - 56% of antioxidants in plants dented spines).
+ In the trunk and roots have dented spines components:
-Quality polyphenols have antioxidant effects.
Accounted for 7.2 to 7.5%-fiber fresh weight and 40% -75% dry weight. In 4-18% of fiber is soluble fiber.
Consequently roots dented body and spines are used as functional foods as antioxidants and herbs for many different uses.


a - Pymly lasia  is used as a vegetable specialty high-end.

Many countries in Asia and in Vietnam, young shoots, leaves and flowers and young calves are used as vegetables high  quality. In Indonesia both species are used as vegetables.
1-used to eat raw salad and squeeze: bud, young leaves and barks of trees and flowers non dented spines are used as salad vegetables and squeeze.
2-Use as boiled vegetables: bud, young leaves and barks of trees and flowers non dented spines are used as vegetables cooked very delicious and nutritious food.
3-Use as vegetable stir-fry: bud, young leaves and barks of trees and flowers non dented spines are used as vegetable stir-fry with meat, shrimp and other seafood, high-end dish at the restaurant.
4-Used to dip and sour soup pot: bud, young leaves and barks of trees and flowers non dented spikes are used to cook soup and sour dip is hot pot specialties.
5-Used to salt pickle: bud, young leaves and barks of trees and flowers non dented spikes used salt pickles taste delicious.

b-Pymly lasia are used as drugs

-According to the Vietnam Traditional Medicine that the roots of Pymly lasia tree are rhizomes spicy wax spines, the cool, having heat effect, detoxification, diuretic, canopy retention, be regarded as herbs or. Pymly lasia can cure many diseases.
-According to western medicine and the law itself the Pymly lasia tree contain ascorbic acid and polyphenols have antioxidant effects.

The plant remedies from Pymly lasia tree

1-foot itching Cure: Use a wax tree spikes or the boiling water bath rhizomes very effective. Day 1 was (according to Dr. Hoang Xuan Dai published on Health & Life).
2-Cure young babies toxic skin ulcers: Get the Pymly lasia tree boiling water basin, rhizome powder on skin diseases, very effective (according to Dr. Hoang Xuan Dai published on Health & Life).
3-Updated hepatitis, liver cirrhosis: Use Pymly lasia 30g dried rhizomes (fresh about 100g) 30g dried pandanus fruit (fresh 100g) dried jagged bitch 10g (30g fresh). For you to cook with 2.000ml water, simmer the water was 300ml, the great-out. Day in 3 divided doses is effective (according to folklore is clearly better to use fresh dried) (according to Dr. Hoang Xuan Dai published on Health & Life) ..
4-Cure rheumatism, back, knee frostbitten legs: Use Pymly lasia rhizome 12g, 12g crane area, behind blood inventory 12g, 12g vajra, ox all 12g, 12g spleen resolution, excellent drinking water a day. Need for 5-7 months (according to Dr. Hoang Xuan Dai published on Health & Life).
5-Cure burnt by poison in the liver: The bodies of Pymly lasia  green thinly sliced boiling in ​​ water into the pot submerged approximately invasion, boiled and then cooled, water to drink as tea, drink for several days. Can be used to determine cooking cooked a second (according to popular experience the Plain of Reeds).
6-clear heat, detoxify: Old dented spines washed, thinly sliced, dried and brought back the soil, use a pinch of cooking in boiling water, drink as tea (by popular experience the Plain of Reeds).