The Health Benefits Of Maitake - Grifola Frondosa

Other Common Names: Dancing Mushroom, Hen of the woods, Grifola Frondosa

Range: Maitake grows in the northern part of the Temperate Zone in the Northern Hemisphere and is found throughout Japan, Europe, and North America.

Habitat: Grows wild in temperate climates. At the base of old hardwood, especially Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata in woods, also Castanopsis cuspdata var. Sieboldii in the parks, as well as on the trunks and roots.

There are three homologs of Maitake, Grifola frondosa: Shiromaitake, Grifola albicans; choreimaitake, Grifola umbellata; and Tonbimaitake, Grifola gigantea.

The scientific name of Maitake, "Grifola frondosa" comes from the common name of a fungus found in Italy. This name refers to a mythical beast which is half-lion and half-eagle. The Japanese name "Maitake" is associated with its shape, which some believe resembles a dancing nymph. It is also said that this name comes from "Dancing fungus", because the person who finds it dances with joy. Maitake is used as a Chinese medicine called "Keisho". "Shen Nong Ben Cao jing" (Shen Nong's scripture of herbal medicine) states that it has been frequently used for improving spleen and stomach ailments, calming nerves and mind, and treating hemorrhoids.

Japan is the major producer and consumer of G. frondosa (Maitake). Commercial production of maitake in Japan began in 1981. By 1986, production was 2,203 t and, by 1991, production reached 7,950 t (a 261% increase). Japanese production of maitake reached 9,617 t in 1993 and was produced primarily in the provinces of Niigata, Nagano, Gunnma, and Shizuoka.

Most Maitake is marketed as food. However, Maitake has been shown to have both anti-tumor and anti-viral properties. Powdered fruitbodies are used in the production of many health foods such as Maitake tea, whole powder, granules, drinks, and tablets. The medicinal properties of the maitake mushroom has been studied since the mid 1980's.

Anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic and also the subject of research against HIV, this mushroom is a delicious, soft-fleshed polypore with excellent nutritional properties. Of all the polypores currently being studied, Grifola frondosa is attracting considerable attention from the pharmaceutical industry, especially in Korea and Japan.

Immunoceuticals can be considered as substances having immunotherapeutic efficacy when taken orally. More than 50 mushroom species have yielded potential immunoceuticals that exhibit anticancer activity in vitro or in animal models and of these, six have been investigated in human cancers. Their extremely high tolerability, proven benefits to survival and quality of life, and compatibility with chemotherapy and radiation therapy makes them well suited for cancer management regimens.

Edible mushrooms such as shiitake may have important salutary effects on health or even in treating disease. A mushroom characteristically contains many different bioactive compounds with diverse biological activity, and the content and bioactivity of these compounds depend on how the mushroom is prepared and consumed. It is estimated that approximately 50% of the annual 5 million metric tons of cultivated edible mushrooms contain functional "nutraceutical" or medicinal properties. In order of decreasing cultivated tonnage, Lentinus (shiitake), Pleurotus (oyster), Auricularia (mu-er), Flammulina (enokitake), Tremella (yin-er), Hericium, and Grifola (maitake) mushrooms have various degrees of immunomodulatory, lipid-lowering, antitumor, and other beneficial or therapeutic health effects without any significant toxicity. Although the data for this functional food class are not as strong as those for other functional foods such as cruciferous vegetables, because of their potential usefulness in preventing or treating serious health conditions such as cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and hypercholesterolemia, functional mushrooms deserve further serious investigation.

The fruit body of Grifola frondosa, Basidiomycetes was confirmed to contain substances with anti-diabetic activity. Moreover, levels of insulin and triglyceride in plasma demonstrated a change similar to blood glucose with feeding of maitake.

Frondosa's antiviral activity was confirmed by both National Cancer Institute and the Japan Institute of Health in early 1992.

  • Jong, S.C. and J.M. Birmingham. 1990. The medicinal value of the mushroom Grifola. World J. Microbiol. and Biotech. 6:227-235.
  • Chang, R. Nutr Rev 1996 Nov;54(11 Pt 2):S91-3 Functional properties of edible mushrooms. Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA.

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