Health-beneficial qualities of the edible mushroom, Agrocybe aegerita

The black poplar mushroom, Agrocybe aegerita is a popular edible mushroom with reported anti-tumor properties. A bioactivity-guided investigation gave positive results for ceramide (1), methyl-β-d-glucopyranoside and α-d-glucopyranoside, along with already reported linoleic acid and its methyl ester. The structure elucidation of the above was accomplished by NMR and mass spectral methods. The ceramide (1) inhibited cyclooxygenase enzymes, COX-1 and -2, by 43 and 92.3%, respectively at 25 μg/ml (34.4 μM). The 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of compound 1 against COX-2 was 5.3 μg/ml (7.3 μM). Similarly, its anti-cancer potential was investigated against five human cancer cell lines in vitro and it was found to inhibit the proliferation of stomach, breast and CNS cancer cell lines at 26.9, 23.2 and 39.1%, respectively, at 100 μg/ml (139 μM) concentration. This is the first report of the isolation of ceramide from A. aegerita and its COX and tumor cell proliferation inhibitory activities. This suggested that the consumption of A. aegerita would assist in alleviating inflammatory conditions, as well as reducing the development of the above cancers.