What is Poria Mushroom?

Poria Cocos is an edible and medicinal mushroom used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Japanese Medicine for 2000 years. It is also called China root, China Tuckahoe, Fu Ling, or Hoelen. It grows naturally underground in the roots of the pine trees. It was traditionally used as a tea supplement because it has relaxing, diuretic and tonic properties. In Asia, Poria Cocos is commercially used in the development of nutritional supplements, cosmeceuticals and food ingredients.

All the existing data about Poria Cocos’s pharmacology, therapeutic indications, and chemistry revealed that it can be a sufficient therapy for many illness including, anticancer activity, mild and chronic inflammations, improve physical energy, anti-oxidant, and slowdowns the effect of ageing [1]. 

Two major chemical compounds extracted from Poria Cocos are, Polysaccharides and Triterpenes. Therefore, Poria is suggested as a therapy or as a combination therapy for cancer because of important biological processes that have a positive impact on human’s health. Poria cocos also contain minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, sulphur, and silicon dioxide, as well as β-glycan, fatty acid, lecithin, adenine, and protease [2]. .