Mini-review on edible mushrooms as source of dietary fiber: Preparation and health benefits

Dietary fiber and high-fiber food products have attracted great attention because of their significant health benefits to consumers. Mushrooms are valuable resources for food, medicine and nutraceuticals. Edible mushroom is considered as a novel source of dietary fiber. The dietary fiber content and composition in edible mushroom vary greatly with its morphological stages including fruit body, mycelium and sclerotium. The focus of this mini-review is on the preparation of dietary fiber from edible mushroom with emphasis on the sclerotium which has the highest level of non-starch polysaccharides. The possible health benefits of mushroom dietary fiber in relationship with boosting the immune system, anticancer functions as well as the control of blood lipids and glucose levels are also discussed.