Agaricus bisporus By-Products as a Source of Chitin-Glucan Complex Enriched Dietary Fibre with Potential Bioactivity

Chitin and Its Derivative Chitosan: Distribution in Nature, Applications, and Technology Research (A Review)

The present review highlights the chitin/chitosan as biopolymers that are promising for biomedical research development. Our goal was to assess the potential for practical use of these biopolymers and to summarize information on traditional and innovative technologies for their production and purification. The widespread occurrence of chitin and chitosan in nature as well as the unique chemical and biological properties of chitosan are reasons of growing interest in the use of the latter in several pharmaceutical fields. The main stages of chitin extraction and its further modification into chitosan are deproteinization, demineralization, deacetylation, and the main methods of chitosan purification are filtration, dialysis and reprecipitation. The profitability of the production of chitin/chitosan from crustaceans and edible mushrooms is approximately at the same level. The cost of mushroom products can be reduced by using agricultural or forestry waste as nutrient substrates. This makes the use of fungi as sources of chitin/chitosan in forested regions a rather promising issue.

The Health and Clinical Benefits of Medicinal Fungi

The human uses of mushrooms and cultured mycelium products for nutrition and medicine are detailed and supported by available human studies, which in many cases are clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals. The major medically active immunomodulating compounds in the cell walls-chitin, beta-glucans, and glycoproteins, as well as lower weight molecules-nitrogen-containing compounds, phenolics, and terpenes-are discussed in relation to their current clinical uses. The nutritional content and foods derived from mushrooms, particularly related to their medical benefits, are discussed. High-quality major nutrients such as the high amounts of complete protein and prebiotic fibers found in edible and medicinal fungi and their products are presented. Mushrooms contain the highest amount of valuable medicinal fiber, while dried fruiting bodies of some fungi have up to 80% prebiotic fiber. These fibers are particularly complex and are not broken down in the upper gut, so they can diversify the microbiome and increase the most beneficial species, leading to better immune regulation and increasing normalizing levels of crucial neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Since the growth of medicinal mushroom products is expanding rapidly worldwide, attention is placed on reviewing important aspects of mushroom and mycelium cultivation and quality issues relating to adulteration, substitution, and purity and for maximizing medicinal potency. Common questions surrounding medicinal mushroom products in the marketplace, particularly the healing potential of fungal mycelium compared with fruiting bodies, extraction methods, and the use of fillers in products, are all explored, and many points are supported by the literature.

Physicochemical characterization, adsorption function and prebiotic effect of chitin-glucan complex from mushroom Coprinus comatus

Chitin-glucan complex (CGC) is a novel insoluble dietary fiber with multiple physiological activities. In this work, CGC was extracted from the fruiting body of Coprinus comatus and its physicochemical properties and prebiotic effects were investigated. The results indicated that CGC consisted of glucosamine and glucose in a molar ratio of 67: 33 with degree of acetylation of 61.91% and crystallinity index of 25.40%. The maximum degradation temperature was determined to be 307.52 °C, and a woven fibrous structure was observed by scanning electron microscopy. CGC exhibited higher oil-holding capacity, water-holding capacity and nitrite ion adsorption capacity than commercial chitin, and showed potential prebiotic effects. Compared with control and commercial chitin, CGC significantly (P < 0.05) increased the concentration of propionic and butyric acids. These results suggested that CGC from C. comatus was promising to be an alternative source of CGC products and used as a bioactive ingredient in functional foods.

Effect of Pre-Fermentative Maceration and Fining Agents on Protein Stability, Macromolecular, and Phenolic Composition of Albariño White Wines: Comparative Efficiency of Chitosan, k-Carrageenan and Bentonite as Heat Stabilisers

In this work, the effect of pre-fermentative skin maceration (PFSM) on the chemical composition of the macromolecular fraction, polysaccharides and proteins, phenolic compounds, chromatic characteristics, and protein stability of Albariño monovarietal white wines was studied. PFSM increased the extraction of phenolic compounds and polysaccharides and reduced the extraction of pathogenesis-related proteins (PRPs). PFSM wine showed significantly higher protein instability. Sodium and calcium bentonites were used for protein stabilisation of wines obtained with PFSM (+PFSM) and without PFSM (-PFSM), and their efficiencies compared to fungal chitosan (FCH) and k-carrageenan. k-Carrageenan reduced the content of PRPs and the protein instability in both wines, and it was more efficient than sodium and calcium bentonites. FCH was unable to heat stabilise both wines, and PRPs levels remained unaltered. On the other hand, FCH decreased the levels of wine polysaccharides by 60%. Sodium and calcium bentonite also decreased the levels of wine polysaccharides although to a lower extent (16% to 59%). k-Carrageenan did not affect the wine polysaccharide levels. Overall, k-carrageenan is suitable for white wine protein stabilisation, having a more desirable impact on the wine macromolecular fraction than the other fining agents, reducing the levels of the wine PRPs without impacting polysaccharide composition.

Functional Foods and Food Supplements

This Special Issue aims to provide new findings and information with respect to healthy foods and biologically active food ingredients. Studies on the chemical, technological, and nutritional characteristics of healthy food ingredients will be taken into consideration as well as analytical methods for monitoring their quality. New findings on the bioavailability and the mechanism of action of food bioactive compounds will be considered. Moreover, studies on the rational design of potential new formulations, both of functional foods and of food supplements, have been taken into account.