Recent Developments in <i>Inonotus obliquus</i> (Chaga Mushroom) Polysaccharides: Isolation, Structural Characteristics, Biological Activities and Application

• Main Authors: Yangpeng Lu, Yanan Jia, Zihan Xue, Nannan Li, Junyu Liu, Haixia Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: <i>Inonotus obliquus</i>; polysaccharides; hypoglycemic; anti-tumor; antiviral; applications
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/9/1441

<i>Inonotus obliquus</i> (Chaga mushroom) is a kind of medicine and health food widely used by folk in China, Russia, Korea, and some occidental countries. Among the extracts from <i>Inonotus obliquus</i>, <i>Inonotus obliquus</i> polysaccharide (IOPS) is supposed to be one of the major bioactive components in <i>Inonotus obliquus</i>, which possesses antitumor, antioxidant, anti-virus, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic activities. In this review, the current advancements on extraction, purification, structural characteristics, and biological activities of IOPS were summarized. This review can provide significant insight into the IOPS bioactivities as their <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> data were summarized, and some possible mechanisms were listed. Furthermore, applications of IOPS were reviewed and discussed; IOPS might be a potential candidate for the treatment of cancers and type 2 diabetes. Besides, new perspectives for the future work of IOPS were also proposed.