There are actually quite a few other sources of 'fungal polysaccharides' besides lingzhi. From another interesting study done in 2018:
Potential uses of fungal polysaccharides as immunostimulants in fish and shrimp
aquaculture: A review (https://www.researchgate.net/public...lants_in_fish_and_shrimp_aquaculture_A_review):
”Higher fungi are well sources of a wild range of most important natural products.
Over the last decade, great attention was generated in the polysaccharides produced by the
numerous fungi especially mushrooms because of their various biological properties, such as
anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, immunostimulation and hypoglycemic activities
(Cohen et al., 2002) (Fig. 1). Many higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms (Grifola frondosa,
Lentinula edodes, Schizophyllum commune, Coriolus versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and
Ganoderma lucidum) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae contain bioactive polysaccharides in its
fruiting bodies, mycelium and broth culture (Wasser, 2002).
To be clear I'm not trying to come across as Mr. Scientist in the know -- I'm learning more about this stuff too -- but here's some more interesting info about these fungal polysaccharides, which I've learned are used as a prebiotic (which is essentially food for probiotic bacteria in simple terms).
"Polysaccharides are prebiotic substances which are boosting the immune responses,
resistance to pathogens and growth performance of fish and crustaceans (Bai et al., 2015;
Ringo et al., 2010; Mohan et al.,2016). Prebiotics are defined as indigestible dietary components that are utilized by specific health-promoting bacteria. These bacteria are considered beneficial to the health and growth of the host by reducing the occurrence of intestinal pathogenic microbes (Roberfroid, 1993; Gibson and Roberfroid, 1995; Gibson, 1998; Manning and Gibson, 2004). Fungal polysaccharides activate the innate immune system in two ways, by direct method and by improving the growth of intestinal microbiota.”
And their conclusion:
Highlights
-- The potential uses of fungal polysaccharides (prebiotics) on fish and shrimp aquaculture was investigated.
-- Dietary supplementation of fungal polysaccharides can enhance growth and innate immune responses of fish and shrimp.
-- Dietary supplementation of fungal polysaccharides can enhance the ability of fish and shrimp to resist the microbial infection.
Another interesting study --
The Role of Prebiotics and Probiotics in Aquaculture (
http://www.global-engage.com/life-science/prebiotics-probiotics-synbiotics-aquaculture/) also points out that prebiotics like fungal polysaccharides can be used to offset some potential down-sides of large scale use of probiotics -- which
RD.
touches upon in his well-known thread about probiotics:
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...robiotics-in-aquaculture.536531/#post-6415196
This approach of balancing prebiotics and probiotics is called "synbiotics", and it could be one of the best ways going forward to get away from use of antibiotics and harmful chemicals:
"Work using Pangasianodon hypopthalmus as a model and live yeast as probiotic, combined with selected prebiotics, showed improved growth performance, digestibility of diets containing high soybean protein and fish health, compared to yeast used alone."
One big problem though as the study points out is the higher cost of prebiotics -- so until this changes one shouldn't expect to find GLP in any cheaper, lower quality fish foods.
