Data published in Functional Foods indicated that six whole mushroom powders were found to increase health-promoting SCFAs (short-chain fatty acids), including butyrate, and enhanced bacterial populations that can benefit human health.
“There are multiple benefits of consuming a diet composed mostly of whole food ingredients,” wrote researchers from M2 Ingredients, ProDigest, and Ghent University. “Although consuming functional mushrooms as whole foods may offer potential benefits, they are rarely ingested this way. Extracts of individual fungal parts and isolated polysaccharide fractions are both the most studied and most consumed mushroom materials.”
They noted that few commercially available functional mushroom products have both the mycelium and fruiting body of the mushrooms, even though consuming both fungal parts has potential benefits.
The study was funded by California-based M2 Ingredients.
Prebiotic health claims
Often incorporated into traditional medicine practices, mushrooms have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and immunoregulatory attributes. There is also growing interest in their use as a functional food due to their nutritional attributes. Edible and medicinal mushrooms have prebiotic effects, which have been a source of interest among researchers.
Most consumer goods that contain prebiotic health claims utilize an isolated fiber ingredient, including inulin fiber, the study scientists explained.
“Inulin fiber is extracted and concentrated from various vegetal sources, much like the beta-glucan or polysaccharide components of functional mushrooms have been the focus of prebiotic research for functional mushrooms,” they noted. “Recent research has investigated the comparison of isolated inulin fiber versus whole food sources of inulin and highlighted the importance of food matrix to prebiotic benefit.”
The study adds to a growing body of evidence showing prebiotic benefit from whole foods, and beyond isolated fibers.
According to the researchers, the study bolsters “the use of whole, full-spectrum mushroom powders for prebiotic benefit and supports the inclusion of these minimally processed ingredients in functional food and natural supplement products.”
Study details
The study explored the effects of minimally processed, full-spectrum whole mushroom powders and blends, taking a deeper dive into individual mushroom species including cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris), reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus), and turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), provided by M2 Ingredients.
Fecal microbiota samples from ten healthy human donors were analyzed using a Colon-on-a-plate system (ProDigest, Ghent, Belgium). In the first part of the study, test products were evaluated with high-throughput untargeted metabolic fingerprinting, overall fermentation, measures of saccharolytic and proteolytic fermentation and the products’ impact on gut microbial community composition.
The second part of the study examined colonic fermentations supplemented with cordyceps, reishi, and the MaxSpectrum blend (which contained 10 mushroom species), measured for their effects on gut barrier integrity and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production and in-depth targeted metabolomics analysis.
The researchers observed significant metabolic changes like an increase in acetate, propionate and butyrate levels with all test products versus the untreated control. Notably, the metabolic fingerprint for cordyceps was significantly different than for reishi and turkey tail.
“Cordyceps increased the production of butyrate more significantly than inulin,” Dr. Julie Daoust, PhD, a researcher on the study, told NutraIngredients. “And I think that’s really exciting because inulin has been used as a gold standard as a prebiotic ingredient.”
Source: Functional Foods, doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2025.106912, “Prebiotic activity of functional whole mushroom powders in short-term in vitro colonic simulations” Authors: Julie Daoust et al.
