New bioactive Compounds from Korean Native Mushrooms

Mushrooms are ubiquitous in nature and have high nutritional attributes. They have demonstrated diverse biological effects and therefore have been used in treatments of various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections, and ulcer. In particular, polysaccharides, including b-glucan , are considered as the major constitution responsible for the biological activity of mushrooms. Althogh an overwhelming number of reports have been published on the importance of polysaccharides as immunoldulating agents, not all of healing properities found in these mushromms could be fully acounted for . Recently, this mini-review, both structural diversity and biological activities of novel bioactive substances from Korea native mushrooms are described.