Pharmacological potential of wood inhabiting fungi of genus Phellinus Quél.: An overview

Abstract

Mushrooms have been in use as human diet and folk medicine against several dieases since antiquity. These properties are credited to the diverse bioactive compounds present in these mushrooms. Phellinus Quel. (Hymenochaetaceae) is amongst the medicinally important mushrooms and is cosmopolitan in distribution. Species under this genus are wood inhabiting causing white rot in various angiosperms and gymnosperms. However, hymenophores and/or mycelial biomass of many Phellinus species are of therapeutic significance. These are used as folk medicine for the management of different disorders since ages and need scientific evaluation. The information regarding the bioactivities and mycochemical components has been collected from Medline, PubMed, Scince Direct and Scopus. The present review accentuates the pharmacological potential of Phellinus bthat is attributed to an array of bioactive constituents reported from different species this genus. The information provided in this review may prove beneficial to evaluate Phellinus species scientifically and extend their folk medicinal use to drug preparation for clinical use in future.