Medicinal Value of Species of the Family Agaricaceae Cohn (Higher Basidiomycetes): Current Stage of Knowledge and Future Perspectives

The family Agaricaceae Cohn contains established biotechnological species as well as species potentially important for man. Cultivated culinary–medicinal species of the family Agaricaceae have been documented to contain biologically active compounds with various beneficial health effects. The varying chemical nature, modes of action, and minor adverse effects of active principles derived from the representatives of the family possess a wealth of yet unexploited applications. A wider sampling of species included in screening programs revealed other active principles. The data about active substances obtained from fruit bodies, cultured mycelia, and culture broth of 37 species from 8 genera of the family Agaricaceae are summarized in this article.