The Pharmacological Effects of Triterpenoids from Ganoderma lucidum and the Regulation of Its Biosynthesis

Ganoderma lucidum is a wildly used medicinal mushroom and has been used in East Asia because of its health-benefit effects. G. lucidum contains various compounds with different biological activities, which include anti-tumour, anti-viral, and anti-malaria effect. Ganoderic acid (GA) is a triterpenoid from G. lucidum. The biosynthesis of GA in G. lucidum is induced by stressors including various elicitors or signaling molecules, and artificially placing elicitors would enhance GA production. In this paper, bioactivities and potential applications of GAs would be focused, and the elicitation strategies for GA production are also highlighted based on the fundamental role of ROS, JA, Ca2+ and NO, which would shed light to developing a novel approach to manipulating the biosynthesis of GA in the future.