Find out what this mushroom can do for our health

The Hericium erinaceus has been used for centuries in the traditional Asian medicince and has become in a mushroom increasingly popular in all the world due to its medicinal and gastronomic properties.

The Hericium erinaceus, known as monkey´s beard or lion´s mane, is an edible mushroom which we can find in many parts of the world, specially in Asia, Europe and North America. Its appearance is very distintive, because of its hat, long beard, long and spongy smooth, which that resembles to the lion´s mane.

This species is very appreciate in the Asian gastronomy by its soft flavor and its crunchy textura, known in Japan as “Yamabushitake” and in China as “Hou Tou Gu”, has been used for centuries in the popular medicine due to its curative properties to nervous system, digestive system, as well as to reduce the colesterol level and to improve the blood circulation, the memory and the concentration.

The popularity of the Hericium erinaceus, as a nutritional supplement and its use in the pharmaceutical industry, drew attention of the researchest team of the Brain Institute in Queensland (Australia) and decided to determine scientifically the effects of the brain cells.

The laboratory tests measured the neurotrophic effects of the isolated compounds of the Hericium erinaceus in brain cells and discovered that the active compounds of this mushroom promoted the neuronal connections, favoring the memory an the cognitive ability. These results suggest that the Hericium erinaceus could be useful in the treatment of neurogenerative diseases such as Alzheimer or Parkinson.

This discovery about the Hericium erinaceus, is very promising and it could make it in a, important source of new medical treatments to neurogenerative diseases in the future.