Anti-cancer Potential of Pleurotus Mushroom: Detailed Insight on the Potential Bioactive Molecules, In vitro-In vivo Studies, and Formulation

Early mushrooms were categorized under functional food/ nutritional food. However, later on, an increasing number of scientific studies strongly support their role in disease prevention and suppression or remission of a diseased state. Mycotherapy of cancer, a new promising field, deals with anticancerogenic agents derived from mushrooms. Rich in nutritive value, undemanding cultivation conditions, and an army of health-promoting bioactive molecules, collectively make Pleurotus mushroom ideal for a researcher to investigate its anti-cancer potential. The present review is a literature survey via. electronic search by two database search engines: Science Direct and PubMed, on the anti-cancer potential of Pleurotus species till 2021. This data profiling will -track information regarding the in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer activity of different Pleurotus species, along with identifying the bioactive molecules responsible for anti-cancer potential with their underlying mechanism of action. Resultant findings from the electronic search revealed that till 2021, nearly 13 species of Pleurotus mushroom had been studied for anti-cancer potential. The biomarkers responsible for activity are mostly higher molecular weight molecules, comprising polysaccharides, polypeptides, proteins, lectins, and enzymes. The lower molecular weight molecules like terpenoids, sterols, and phenolic compounds are less explored and untapped. The main underlying mechanism for the anticancer activity of Pleurotus mushrooms is the induction of the mitochondria intrinsic pathway. For anticancer, Pleurotus mushrooms are widely formulated as metal nanoparticles. Altogether, this detailed insight may give the researcher a path to be addressed, thus driving mass attention to identifying novel,effective, and safer anticancer potential biomarkers.