Snow fungus the edible mushroom beatifies the skin

Snow fungus has been used as food and medicine by Chinese for thousands of years. Scientific research in recent years show that it has multiple pharmacological properties which are beneficial for health.

1. FOOD AS MEDICINE:
SNOW FUNGUS
TREMELLA FUCIFORMIS
By
Kevin KF Ng, MD, PhD.
Former Associate Professor of medicine
Division of Clinical Pharmacology
University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Email: [email protected]
A Slide Presentation for HealthCare Providers April 2022

2. Presentation Outline
▪What is a Snow Fungus?
▪History
▪Cultivation
▪Nutrient and bioactive compounds
▪Pharmacology of polysaccharides
▪Preclinical scientific studies
▪Limited clinical studies
▪Summary

3. What is Snow Fungus?
▪“Snowfungus"scientificallycalledTremellafuciformisis
atropicalandsubtropicaljellyfungusfoundon
hardwoodlogsafterheavyrains.
▪Itiswhitishornearlytransparentandmeasuresupto7
cmacross.
▪Tremellafuciformishasalifecyclethatisintertwined
withthatofanotherfungusinthegenusHypoxylon.Itis
unclearwhetherTremellafuciformisactuallyparasitizes
theHypoxylon,orwhetherthereisacomplexsymbiosis
involved.
https://www.mushroomexpert.com/tremella_fuciformis.html

4. Growth of Snow Fungus (Tremella fuciformis)

5. Name of snow fungus in other languages
https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/snow-fungus/

6. Interaction between Tremella fuciformisand
Annulohypoxylon stygium(2019)
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Comparative-transcriptomic-analysis-
identified-and-Liu-Pujiana/27dd9d5ce38d8e12ef01f35bc30bb1c62e04014e

7. Annulohypoxylon archeri
▪Species in the genus Annulohypoxylon, especially
Annulohypoxylon archeri, are commonly used in the
cultivation of Tremella fuciformis,
▪Tremella fuciformisis a parasitic fungus that does not
form an edible fruit body without parasitizing another
fungus.
▪The species Annulohypoxylon archeriis its preferred
host; cultivators usually pair cultures of Tremella
fuciformiswith this species, or others in the former
genus Hypoxylon.

8. • HISTORY
• GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
• CULTIVATION

9. History of snow fungus (tremella fuciformis)
▪SnowFungusisnativetosubtropicalandtropicalregionsaround
theworldincludingBrazil,Taiwan,China,Japan,andotherAsian
countries.
▪Cultivationofthefungusbeganaround1914inChinaandnew
cultivationtechniquesbeganin1968,leadingtothemass
productionofthevarietyandtheabilitytoexportthemushroomin
driedformworldwide.
▪Upuntilthistime,SnowMushroomswerefortheexclusiveuseof
royaltyandtheverywealthy.
▪Todaysnowmushroomsarefoundfreshatlocalmarketsorin
driedforminAsia,SoutheastAsia,SouthAmerica,CentralAmerica,
Australia,NewZealand,Africa,andNorthAmerica.
https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/snow-fungus/

10. Yang Yuhuan, known as Yang GuiFei (713-756 AD), was one of
the fewwomen whose beauty has caused the downfall of monarchs and nations.
http://sacrificeworldwide.com/yang-guifei/
Legend indicates that her beauty was due to a snow fungus soup called “tong shui”

11. Global distribution of Snow Fungus
▪The species is mainly tropical and subtropical, but extends into temperate areas in Asia and North
America.
▪It is known throughout South and Central America, the Caribbean, parts of North America, sub-Saharan
Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_climate#/media/File:Latitude_zones.png

12. CULTIVATION TECHNOLOGIES of snow mushroom
Thereweretwokindsofinoculationmethods:
▪Sporeinoculation:only31%ofwoodcouldbe
usedformushroomcultivation
▪Artificialinnoculation:therewerefourartificial
inoculationmethods:
▪Sporesuspension
▪Powderspawn
▪Spore,myceliumandsawdustmixture
▪Yeast-likeconidiaofT.fuciformis.

13. • SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
• ANATOMY
• SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

14. Scientific classification of snow fungus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella_fuciformis

15. Number of articles “Tremella fuciformis” in PubMed from
1972 to 2021
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=tremella+fuciformis

16. • NUTRIENT COMPOSITION
• POLYSACCHARIDES

17. Nutrient composition of Snow Fungus (Tremella fusiformis)
©DRKEVINKFNG

18. Nutrition facts for Snow Fungus (100g)
https://slism.com/calorie/108008/

19. Vitamins, ｍinerals, dietary fiber, and sodium content for
100g of Snow Fungus
https://slism.com/calorie/108008/

20. PHARMACOLOGY OF TF POLYSACCHARIDES
• Preclinical studies
• Clinical trial

21. Nutrient composition of Snow Fungus (Tremella fusiformis)
Glucurono-XyloMannan polysaccharide from T. fuciformis
©DRKEVINKFNG

22. PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYSACCHARIDES
EXTRACTED FROM Tremella fuciformisAND Auricularia auricula (2012)
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/PURIFICATION-AND-CHARACTERIZATION-OF-
EXTRACTED-FROM-Khamlue-Ounaroon/6ff5da6381408d976bcc981cdae2158660040991

23. Polysaccharide from Tremella fuciformismushroom
▪A mixture of several polysaccharides
▪Molecular weight : 5.82x10
5
Da to 3.74x10
6
Da
▪Structure: (1-3)-β-D-glucans, heteroglycans,
glucuronic acid
▪Some polysaccharides are soluble in water
▪The change of molecular weight had no obvious
influence on the activity of the heteroglycans
Glucurono-XyloMannan polysaccharide from T. fuciformis
©DRKEVINKFNG

24. Pharmacological properties of polysaccharides from
tremella fuciformis
▪Antioxidant
▪Anti-inflammatory
▪Immuno-modulatory
▪Anti-cancer
▪Anti-obesity
▪Hypoglycemic
▪Hypolipidemic
▪Neuronal growth
▪Hydration effect
▪Wound healing effect
▪Prebiotic
Tremella Polysaccharide Enteric-coated Capsules" was approved by Chinese Food
and Drug Administration (SFDA) in 2002 for treating cancer patients with
leukopenia induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31030755

25. Water and oil holding capacity of tremella fuciformisflour
https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/ijfe/14/1/article-20170288.xml?language=en
Hydration

26. Tremella fuciformisextract inhibits inflammation via
inhibition of NF-κBand MAPKs (2016)
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/getauthorversionpdf/c6fo00540c

27. Tremella fuciformisdecreases the release of inflammatory factors that
are produced during LPS-induced RAW264.7 cell injury (2018).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29854576
TNF-α iL-6

28. The polysaccharide from Tremella fuciformisdecreases both
IFN-γand IL-2 productions by THP-1 (macrophage) cells.
•LPS 1 µg/ml, lypopolysaccharide;
•TS 200 µg/ml, polysaccharide from
Tremella fusiformis
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266676515_Structure_and_biological_activities_of_polysaccharide_from_Tremella_fuciformis
Immuno-
modulatory

29. Production of IL-10 by THP-1 macrophage cells in response
to polysaccharide from Tremella fuciformis.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266676515_Structure_and_biological_activities_of_polysaccharide_from_Tremella_fuciformis

30. Effect of T. fuciformis(Tf) and P. baumii(Pb) EPS on the
blood glucose levels in mice. (2007)
•Filled circle Control group
•Filled square TfEPS-treated group
•Open square Pb EPS-treated group
EPS=exopolusaccharide
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6370732_Hypoglycemic_effects_of_exopolysaccharides_p
roduced_by_mycelial_cultures_of_two_different_mushrooms_Tremella_fuciformis_and_Phellinus_bau
mii_in_obob_mice
Glucose

31. Effect of polysaccharide extracted from Tremella fuciformis
on diabetes induced in rats(2015)
Blood glucose levels in rats submitted to treatments:
1)Control = control that received commercial pellet;
2)Diabetic = diabetic group that received high sugar diet and commercial pellet;
3) CBr= control that received polysaccharide from Tremella isolate from Brazil and
commercial pellet;
4) Br 1mmol= Diabetic group that received oral Tremella 1mmol from Br (Brazil);
5) Br 2mmol= Diabetic group that received oral Tremella 2mmol from Br (Brazil).
Measurements were taken once a week for until 60days. Weight values are mean of
5 animals.
In time 0day correspond to 3 month of high sugar diet.
Different letters in line indicate statistically significant difference among all groups
(p<0.05 ANOVA)
Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture. 2015. 27(7): 585-591
Glucose

32. Summary of pharmacological properties of
Tremella fuciformis
Lipids
©DRKEVINKFNG

33. The anti-obesity effect of fermented tremella/blueberry in
metabolically healthy obese rats (2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464621003194
•NG: normal group,
•CON: control group,
•SIM: simvastatin group fed at 10 mg/kg/day,
•L: low-dose group fed HFD plus FTB at 25 mL/kg/day,
•M: medium-dose group fed HFD plus FTB at 50 mL/kg/day,
•H: high-dose group fed HFD plus FTB at 75 mL/kg/day
obesity

34. Effect of polysaccharide from Tremella fuciformison proliferation of
Hela cells (A), NIH3T3 cells (B) and Neuro2a cells (C).
Adaptedfromhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/266676515_Structure_and_biological_activities_of_polysaccharide_from_Tremella_fuciformis
anticancer

35. Protective effect of polysaccharides from Tremella fuciformis
against radiation-induced damage in mice. (2012)
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Protective-effect-of-polysaccharides-isolated-from-Xu-Shen/711df9a51bfe3ec93fc17004e8e0bc04d07151ed/figure/0
WTF-B = water soluble polysaccharide
Radiation

36. Effect of water soluble polysaccharides (TP) from Tremella fuciformison
UV-induced photoaging in laboratory animal (2016).
▪TP reduced the skin water and collagen losses
induced by UV radiation.
▪TP ameliorated the skin structure alterations
caused by skin photodamage.
▪TP increased the activities of SOD, GSH-Px and
CAT.
▪TP's skin protective effect was related with its
antioxidant activity.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S175646461500554X
UV damage

37. Tremella fuciformispolysaccharide (TFPS) relieves hydrogen peroxide-
induced human skin fibroblast injury by
attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis (2017)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5561887/
Skin

38. Isolation of a nerve growth factor from Tremella fuciformis(2011)
▪A neuritogeniccompound 1, 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-22E, 24R-5alpha,
8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6, 22-diene, was isolated and identified from the
methanol extract of T. fuciformis.
▪This compound showed a significant neuritogenicactivity against PC12 cells
at 3 micromolx L(-1)).
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51831154_A_neuritogenic_compound_from_Tremella_fuciformis
neurite outgrowth
https://nutritionreview.org/2014/09/bad-sugar-derivative-kills-good-hdl-cholesterol-increases-heart-disease/methylglyoxal-and-mice-neurite-outgrowth/
NGF

39. T. fuciformisinduced neuronalgrowth in PC12h cells (2007)
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/T-fuciformis-induced-neuronal-
differentiation-in-PC12h-cells-A-Morphological-changes_fig2_256470298
Control NGF 0.1 µg/ml
T. fuciformis
0.1 µg/ml
T. Fuciformis
1 µg/ml
NGF

40. EFFECT OF TF POLYSACCHARIDES ON
GUT MICROBIOME

41. Intestinal Microflora
https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Firmicutes_and_Obesity

42. Composition ofgut microbiota (2017)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453017300630#fig0005

43. Effect of gut microbiome (Fumicutes& Bacteroidetes) on
Obesity and Irritable Bower Disease (2020)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/11/1715/htm

44. Tremella fuciformisPolysaccharides InhibitedColonic Inflammation in
Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Treated Mice via Foxp3+ T Cells,
Gut Microbiota, and Bacterial Metabolites (2021)
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.648162/full

45. • CLINICAL TRIALS
• COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

46. Efficacy and Safety of Tremella fuciformis(TF) in Individuals with
Subjective Cognitive Impairment:
A Randomized Controlled Trial (2018)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322378165_Efficacy_and_Safety_of_Tremella_fuci
formis_in_Individuals_with_Subjective_Cognitive_Impairment_A_Randomized_Controlled_Trial

47. Formulation and efficacy evaluation of the safe and efficient
moisturizing snow mushroom hand sanitizer (2020)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocd.13543

48. Commercial products
▪Culinary use:
▪Salad
▪Entrée
▪Soup
▪desert
▪Supplement
▪Snow fungus powder
▪Snow fungus capsule
▪Medicinal use:
▪Snow fungus tincture
▪Skincare products

49. Some delicious snow fungus cuisines

50. Summary
▪SnowfungusknownasTremellafuciformishasbeenusedasfood
andmedicineinChinaforthousandsofyears.
▪Recentstudieshaveshownthatitisrichinvitamins,minerals,
dietaryfiberandpolysaccharides.
▪Tremellapolysaccharideshavebeenshowntohavemultiple
pharmacologicalpropertieswhicharebeneficialforhealth
▪"TremellaPolysaccharideEnteric-coatedCapsules"wasapproved
byChineseFoodandDrugAdministration(SFDA)in2002for
treatingcancerpatientswithleukopeniainducedby
chemotherapyandradiotherapy.
▪SnowfungusisnowwidelyusedbytheChineseasaningredientin
soups,culinarycuisinesandskincareproducts.

51. ANY QUESTION?
Slide presentations on other topics available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/ssusera9ba27/presentations