Healthy Shiitake

The health benefits of shiitake mushrooms have been exposed recently by an American study.

Scientists in America found that Shiitake mushrooms contain high levels of high molecular weight polyaccharides (HMWP) which is known to improve the human immune system. They also discovered that eritadenine found in shiitake mushrooms may help lower cholesterol levels.

The researchers inoculated logs with spores from three different shiitake varieties and compared the yield with shiitake yields grown on commercial substrates.

They found that the log-grown shiitakes had HMWP levels as much as 70 percent higher than the substrate-grown shiitakes. The team also observed that shiitakes grown on red and white oak logs had higher levels of HMWP than shiitakes grown on sweet gum logs.

In 2004-2005, producers harvested approximately 9 million pounds of shiitake mushrooms, which sold for an average price of $3.21 per pound.