Comparison of sterols and fatty acids in two species of Ganoderma

Ergosterol, a specific component of fungal cell membrane, was rich in G. lucidum and G. sinense. But its content in G. lucidum (median content 705.0 μg·g-1, range 189.1-1453.3 μg·g-1, n = 19) was much higher than that in G. sinense (median content 80.1 μg·g-1, range 16.0-409.8 μg·g-1, n = 13). Hierarchical clustering analysis based on the content of ergosterol showed that 32 tested samples of Ganoderma were grouped into two main clusters, G. lucidum and G. sinense. Hierarchical clustering analysis based on the contents of ten fatty acids showed that two species of Ganoderma had no significant difference though two groups were also obtained. The similarity of two species of Ganoderma in fatty acids may be related to their antitumoral proliferation effect.The content of ergosterol is much higher in G. lucidum than in G. sinense. Palmitic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid are main fatty acids in Ganoderma and their content had no significant difference between G. lucidum and G. sinense, which may contribute to their antitumoral proliferation effect.Ganoderma (Lingzhi in Chinese) is a genus of well-known medicinal mushrooms with multiple benefits to human health. So far, more than 120 species of Ganoderma have been reported in the world, 98 species of which could be found in China [1]. However, only two species of Ganoderma (Figure 1), G. lucidum (Leyss.ex Fr.) Karst. and G. sinense Zhao, Xu et Zhang, are documented as Lingzhi in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010) [2]. Modern studies have revealed that Lingzhi contain a variety of bioactive ingredients, including triterpenoids, polysaccharides, sterols, fatty acids, nucleosides and alkaloids [3], and possess multiple pharmacological activities, such as antitumor [1,4], immunomodulation [5,6], anti-inflammatory [7], antiviral [8], anti-aging [9] and anti-diabetic [10] effects. It is usually considered that triterpenoids and polysaccharides are the main active components in Lingzhi [3]. However, our previous study h