August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 1

August 2015 | Issue #31

News from the INItIatIveMary Jo FeeneyThe Bulletin provides ideas on how to communicate mushroom research.

MUSHROOMS AND HEALTHGLOBAL INITIATIVE BULLETINAn ISMS Global Initiative to increase the worldwide consumption of mushrooms through the collection, evaluation and dissemination of scientifically validated information.

Table of ConTenTs

News from the Initiative .............................. 1 Mary Jo Feeney

Mushroom Research .................................. 2

News from Australia ................................... 4 Glenn Cardwell

News From South Africa .............................6 Riana Greenblo

News from Spain........................................ 8 Irene Roncero Ramos

News from the United States ..................... 9 Taffy Spencer

Increasing the usefulness and reach of the BulletinThe Bulletin — the main communications tool of the Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative — is now in the eighth year of distribution! The Bulletin provides examples of how countries customize research results for their region to help support the Initiative’s goal of increasing worldwide consumption of mushrooms.

We want to be sure the Bulletin gives you the tools you need to position the Initiative as the recognized global science and communications site for news bureaus, health professionals, media, and others seeking credible information on mushrooms’ health and nutrition benefits.

Take our short online survey to let us know how we can increase the usefulness and reach of the Bulletin.

Take our short survey on how to improve

the Bulletin.

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 2

Twardowski P, Kanaya N, Frankel P, Synold T, Ruel C, et al. A phase I trial of mushroom powder in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer: Roles of cytokines and myeloid-derived suppressor cells for Agaricus bisporus-induced prostate-specific antigen responses. Cancer 2015; May 18. doi. 10.10.1002/cncr.29421.

According to the abstract, each year in the United States, nearly 50,000 prostate cancer patients exhibit a rise in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, which can indicate disease recurrence. For patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer, the investigators evaluated the effects of white button mushroom (WBM) powder on serum PSA levels and determined the tolerability and biological activity of WBM.

Patients with continuously rising PSA levels were enrolled in the study. Dose escalation was conducted in cohorts of 6 to

help ensure that no more than 1 patient per cohort experienced dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). The primary objective was to evaluate treatment feasibility and associated toxicity. The

secondary objectives were to determine WBM’s effect on serum PSA/androgen levels; myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs); and cytokine levels.

According to the results, thirty-six patients were treated with no DLTs encountered. The overall PSA response rate was 11%. Two patients receiving 8 and 14 g/d demonstrated complete response (CR): their PSA declined to undetectable levels that continued for 49 and 30 months. Two patients who received 8 and 12 g/d experienced partial response (PR). After 3 months of therapy, 13 (36%) patients experienced some PSA decrease below baseline. Patients with CR and PR demonstrated higher levels

mushroom researchClick on the following links to read the variety of

abstracts that discuss a wide range of topics.

white button mushrooms and prostate cancer

see the Us report on how the study results

will be used.

of baseline interleukin-15 than nonresponders; for this group, the investigators reported an observed therapy-associated decline in MDSCs.

The investigators state that therapy with WBM appears to both impact PSA levels and modulate the biology of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer by decreasing immunosuppressive factors.

mushrooms as functional foods

Glamočlija J, Stojković D, Miloš Nikolić M, Ćirić A, Reis FS, et al. A comparative study on edible Agaricus mushrooms as functional foods. Food Funct. 2015; 6, 1900-1910 doi.10.1039/C4FO01135J.

Agaricus bisporus is a cultivated mushroom; A. bitorquis, A. campestris and A. macrosporus are edible mushrooms mainly growing wild in nature. The investigators carried out a chemical characterization with samples originating in Serbia and assessed antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-quorum sensing properties of their methanolic and ethanolic extracts. A. campestris had the lowest caloric value and total sugar content and showed the highest concentration in organic and phenolic acids, and in tocopherols (mainly γ-tocopherol). In general, the methanolic extracts showed higher antioxidant, but lower antibacterial and antifungal potential than ethanolic ones. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of the ethanolic extracts demonstrated reduction of virulence factors, AQ inhibition zones, twitching and swimming motility. The biofilm forming capability of P. aeruginosa PAO1 was also reduced in a concentration-dependent manner at sub-MIC values. The extracts of the tested Agaricus species are a promising source of antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiquorum sensing compounds.

agaricus species can be a source of antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiquorum

sensing compounds.

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Muna GA, John M, Benson M, and Ogoyi D. Antioxidant properties of cultivated edible mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) in Kenya. Afr J Biotech 2015. Vol 14, No 16.

Antioxidant activities and phytochemical compounds of ethanol and hot water extracts of Agaricus bisporus species fruiting body and mycelia cultivated in Kenya were spectophotometrically determined and evaluated. The total antioxidant activity was analysed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil, hydroxyl, superoxide radical scavenging and reducing power assays, while phytochemicals were assayed through calorimetric assays.

Total phenolic, β-carotene, lycopene, flavanoid and ascorbic acid composition of A. bisporus extracts were analysed by calometric assays and found to contain 40.26 to 4.61 mg/g, 48.99 to 2.86 mg/g, 67.82 to 11.87 mg/g, 93.8 to17.2 mg/g and 11.62 to 10.22 mg/g) respectively. The

mineral elemental analysis done using energy dispenser x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analytical method revealed that the samples contain zinc (42.9 mg/l), iron (33 to 48.5 mg/l), copper (18 to 24 mg/l) and manganese (7.5 to 9 mg/l).

Generally, the mycelium extracts were more effective radical scavengers than the fruiting bodies. A. bisporus mushroom could be considered a food complement with antioxidative activity in the diet for the health benefits they present. Their effectiveness was also evaluated by their EC50 values through interpolation from linear regression analysis of their respective data.

analysis of antioxidant activities and phytochemical compounds

Mushroom Research continued

a. bisporus mushroom could be

considered a food complement with

antioxidative activity in the diet.

Gil-Ramirez A, Caz V, Martin-Hernandez R, Marín FR, Largo C, et al. Modulation of cholesterol-related gene expression by ergosterol and ergosterol-enriched extracts obtained from Agaricus bisporus. Eur J Nutr. 2015 May 7 e-pub ahead of print.

The study investigated the effect of two extracts from Agaricus bisporus on the mRNA expression of cholesterol-related genes. One extract contained ergosterol and other fungal sterols (SFE) and the other contained β-glucans and fungal sterols (EβG).

The dietary mixed micelles (DMMs) generated after in vitro digestion of standards and SFE were applied to Caco2 cells. Then, the lower compartment after a Caco2-transport experiment was applied to HepG2 cells. The mRNA expression was assessed in both cell lines by low-density arrays (LDA). Mice received the extracts, ergosterol or control drugs after 4 weeks of a high-cholesterol diet. The lipid profile of plasma, liver and feces was determined. LDA assays were performed in liver and intestines.

effect of ergosterol and ergosterol-enriched extracts on cholesterol gene expression

According to the results, the DMM fraction of SFE up-regulated the LDLR mRNA expression in Caco2 cells. The lower compartment after Caco2-transport experiments up-regulated LDLR and modulated several other lipid-related genes in HepG2 cells. In mice, SFE decreased TC/HDL ratio and reduced hepatic triglycerides paralleled with down-regulation of Dgat1 expression, while EβG did it without transcriptional changes. Addition of SFE or ergosterol induced in jejunum a similar transcriptional response to simvastatin and ezetimibe; they all down-regulated Srebf2 and Nr1h4 (FXR) genes.

The investigators stated that ergosterol-containing extracts from A. bisporus lowered hepatic triglyceride and modify the mRNA expression of cholesterol-related genes although the transcriptional regulation was unrelated to changes in plasma lipid profile. These extracts may be useful limiting hepatic steatosis and as bioactive ingredients to design novel functional foods preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

a. Bisporus extracts may be useful as bioactive ingredients.

G. lucidum, obesity and gut microbiota in miceChang CJ, Lin CS, Lu CC, Martel J, Ko YF et al. Ganoderma lucidum reduces obesity in mice by modulating the composition of the gut microbiota. Nature Communications 6. June 2015. Article number 7489. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8489. Open Access.

Obesity is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation and intestinal dysbiosis. Ganoderma lucidum (reishi) is a medicinal mushroom used in traditional Chinese medicine with putative anti-diabetic effects. The investigators report that a water extract of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium (WEGL) reduces body weight, inflammation and insulin resistance in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). The data indicate that WEGL not only reverses HFD-induced gut dysbiosis — as indicated by the decreased Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratios and endotoxin-bearing Proteobacteria levels — but also maintains intestinal barrier integrity and reduces metabolic endotoxemia.

The anti-obesity and microbiota-modulating effects are transmissible via horizontal faeces transfer from WEGL-treated mice to HFD-fed mice. The investigators furthered showed that high molecular weight polysaccharides (>300 kDa) isolated from the WEGL extract produce similar anti-obesity and microbiota-modulating effects. Results indicate that G. lucidum and its high molecular weight polysaccharides may be used as prebiotic agents to prevent gut dysbiosis and obesity-related metabolic disorders in obese individuals.

G. lucidum and its high

molecular weight polysaccharides may be useful as prebiotic agents.

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 4

News from australIaGlenn Cardwell

Mushrooms were featured in the Exhibition Hall of the annual DAA conference in Perth, Western Australia. Mushrooms have always been a favourite with dietitians so this was a wonderful opportunity to launch the new health professional brochure with all the new health-related research from the past two years. Dietitians have for a long time been our primary target for health information as many of them blog, write for magazines, and appear in the popular media, so we would love for them to frequently mention mushrooms as a significant nutrient source, especially as it is now clear they are an excellent source of vitamin D.

For the brochure go to www.powerofmushrooms.com.au/health-nutrition/health-nutrition/ and click on “Download Facts for Health Professionals”.

Dietitians association australia (Daa) national conference

new health professional brochure launched at the Daa conference.

Through June and July we have been spreading the word about the vitamin D in mushrooms, now confidently stating that all retail mushrooms are a significant source of vitamin D, particularly as we are in mid-winter and nearly half of all adult Australians are vitamin D deficient. A Sydney public relations company has created many opportunities for us to talk to the media, our Talking Research newsletter for health professionals has kept readers informed, and our social media links have been particularly helpful in telling bloggers, food media, dietitians and the public that mushrooms need to be included in the diet when it is difficult to get sufficient sunlight exposure.

telling the worldRegular retail mushrooms are a significant source

of natural vitamin D (23% of daily needs in a

100g/3.5oz serve).

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 5

News from Australia continued

A major step has been made in the recognition of mushrooms as a source of vitamin D. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is developing a database of vitamin D levels in Australian food. For data to be accepted there is a strict protocol to follow, from sampling methodology to analysis. The latter is done by the National Measurement Institute (NMI), our own government analytical laboratory.

In April, we sampled mushrooms from different retail stores in five capital cities and placed them in light-proof cool bags and couriered them on the same day to NMI in Melbourne for immediate analysis. Samples included regular retail mushrooms and those specifically labelled ‘Vitamin D Mushrooms’ that have been exposed to pulsed UV light post-harvest. As expected, the Vitamin D Mushrooms had more than the Adequate Intake (AI) of vitamin D (10 mcg/400IU) in a 100g serve, with an average of 26 mcg D/100g.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that regular mushrooms had 2.3 mcg D/100g (23% AI), with some being as high as 5mcg/100g, possibly because they had spent longer under fluorescent light in-store.

vitamin D levels in mushroomsThis analysis is particularly important to the Australian mushroom industry because mushrooms are now officially recognised as a significant source of vitamin D, with even regular mushrooms having more D than eggs, margarine, tinned oily fish and D-fortified milk per serve. Mushrooms exposed to pulsed UV light post-harvest (or placed in the sun) are the only food to provide 100% AI of D in a serve. We can no longer be ignored as a D source.

Table. Vitamin D content of store-bought button mushrooms (100g)

MushroomVitamin D mcg/100 g

serveRegular retail mushrooms (sliced & whole)

2.3

Cooked regular mushrooms

3.1

Regular mushrooms after 1 hr in the winter sun

10

Vitamin D labelled mushrooms

26

Cooked Vitamin D labelled mushrooms

53

Source: National Measurement Institute

The report and sample data can be accessed from the FSANZ website.

Vitamin D Mushrooms had more than the

adequate Intake (aI) of vitamin D (10 mcg/400IU)

in a 100g serve, with an average of 26 mcg

D/100g.

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 6

News from south afrIcaRiana Greenblo

2015 saw some interesting shifts on the South African mushroom scene. The first exciting step was to redesign and refresh the existing SAMFA (South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association) website. It is now fully responsive on all devices from mobile phones and tablets to desktops making it super easy to navigate. The website focus is recipes and their nutritional benefits with blendability forming a cornerstone whilst the nifty and practical blendability calculator allows users to quickly calculate the calorie saving they achieve by blending mushrooms with meat.

Our dietitians’ programme kicked up a notch with highly informative farm walks combined with health presentations and regular newsletters (here). The response from dietitians has been hugely encouraging and the most fascinating learning from this programme is the lack of information amongst professionals on the health benefits of white button, Portabella and Portabellini mushrooms.

making nutrition accessible and fun

Dietitian newsletter and programmes

saMfa website is now fully responsive on all devices from mobile phones and tablets to desktops making it super easy to navigate.

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 7

News from South Africa continued

In-store competition uses social media, stickers and wobblers.

June and July saw our first in-store competition in conjunction with a Facebook and Twitter competition to drive sales and to create greater visibility for blendability. We used the hashtag #JoinTheBlendTrend with great success. Almost 10000 entries

were received via short message services (sms) and just under 3000 entries arrived by email. In-store visibility was excellent with colourful stickers on the punnets and wobblers on shelves to communicate the message: #JoinTheBlendTrend and win. We are investigating a similar promotion in November during Men’s Health month to educate male consumers on the health benefits of mushrooms to them.

Blend trend consumer promotion announced to the trade

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News from spaINIrene Roncero Ramos

The Spanish Mushroom Growers Association (ASOCHAMP) is working on numerous actions to promote the new report we published about the nutritional and health properties of mushrooms. One of the activities we are carrying out is participating as a sponsor in several nutrition and dietetics conferences. In these events, our activity as sponsors consists in the inclusion of the report and the new mushrooms cookbooks in the conference bags with the aim to present the nutritional benefits of mushroom to healthcare and dietitians professionals.

Some of the conferences which CTICH (Mushroom Technological Research Center) have participated in include:

• XIX International Conference of Practical Nutrition in Madrid

• III Congress of the Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics (FESNAD) in Seville.

• IX Congress of the Spanish Federation of Biotechnologists – Annual Congress of Biotechnology (BAC) in Salamanca.

ASOCHAMP also sent this information to the Professional Associations of Nutritionists and Dietitians of Spain and they invited us to sponsor their annual meetings.

One of the most important Dietitians meetings was the 4th Conference of the Association of Dietitians-Nutritionists of Madrid (ADDINMA); a copy of our scientific report was delivered to each attendee. Participants greatly appreciated this documentation.

promoting mushrooms’ nutritional and health properties

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 9

News from the uNIteD statesTaffy Spencer

“the Blend” wins prestigious public relations silver anvil (prsa) award

Last month “Mushrooms: The Culinary Trend is to blend” won the 2015 PRSA Silver Anvil award for Excellence in Marketing: Consumer Products, beating out more than 800 entries!

For more than 60 years, the Silver Anvil Award has served as the industry’s most distinguished honor, recognizing the very best in public relations.

Nearly 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, but new research published in Cancer and abstracted in this Bulletin, suggests adding about one serving of white button mushrooms a day to the diet of men with previously diagnosed with prostate cancer can decrease PSA levels, a key indicator of tumor growth.

In this clinical trial, researchers at the City of Hope, Duarte California, a leading cancer and research center, treated 36 men with continuously rising PSA levels with graduated white button mushroom powder equivalent to about 1/2-1 3/4 servings of fresh mushrooms for three

This award is just the beginning for the blend strategy and its success, for everyone involved. This honor and recognition is really just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll continue to build on the blend’s incredible momentum and the excitement surrounding the current Better Burger Project activation with James Beard Foundation.

study suggests mushrooms’ role to help combat prostate cancer

months. Researchers found 36 percent of the men experienced a decrease in PSA levels, with PSAs deceasing to undetectable levels in two of the men. Given the American Cancer Society estimates more than 220,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S. this year, an effective dietary change could be an important and simple strategy for men to adopt as part of a healthy lifestyle.

This study was conducted with funding from the Australian Mushrooms Growers Association and the Mushroom Council. We’ll be sharing a blog post featuring an interview with the lead researcher on the study, Dr. Chen, in the coming months on the Mushroom Channel blog – stay tuned!

The american Cancer society estimates more

than 220,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate

cancer in the U.s. this year.

August 2015 - Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative BulletinPage 10

mushrooms Get socialaUsTRalIaPower of Mushrooms WebsiteMy Mushrooms BlogMighty Mushroom TwitterMushroom Lovers Club FacebookPower of Mushrooms YouTube

CanaDaMushrooms Canada WebsiteMushrooms Canada BlogMushrooms Canada TwitterMushrooms Canada FacebookMushrooms Canada PinterestMushrooms Canada YouTube

ITalyItalian Association Fungicoltori (AIF) WebsiteItalian Association Fungicoltori (AIF) info@fun.go.it emailFunghincucina TwitterFunghincucina FacebookFunghincucina Pinterest

neTheRlanDsChampignonidee WebsiteChampignonidee TwitterChampignonidee FacebookChampignonidee PinterestChampignonidee YouTubeChampignonidee Google+

soUTh afRICaSAMFA WebsiteFresh Mushrooms TwitterMushroomsSA Facebook

spaInCTICH WebsiteChampinonidea WebsiteAsochamprioja TwitterAsoc Prof Cultivadores Champiñon de La Rioja,Navarra y Aragon FacebookAsochamprioja YouTubeASOC.PROF.CULT Champiñón DE LA RIOJA Google+

UnITeD KIngDoM & IRelanDJust Add Mushrooms WebsiteJust Add Mushrooms TwitterJust Add Mushrooms Facebook

Just Add Mushrooms YouTube

UnITeD sTaTesMushroom Info WebsiteThe Mushroom Channel blogMushroom Channel TwitterMushroom Channel FacebookFresh Mushrooms Pinterest

ResourcesBe sure to visit the Mushrooms and Health website www.mushroomsandhealth.com.Send what’s happening in your country to communicate the benefits of mushrooms to consumers, shoppers, households, doctors, health professionals and the media to info@mushroomsandhealth.com.

Note: The Bulletin provides links to other sites for your convenience and information. These sites contain information created, published, maintained or otherwise posted by organizations independent of the Initiative which does not endorse, approve, certify or control these sites and does not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained on them.

Initiative Project Team• Greg Seymour, President, ISMS; General Manager AMGA, Australia;

Project Manager, Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative

• Bart Minor, President, Mushroom Council, United States

• Mary Jo Feeney, Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative Operations Manager, Bulletin Editor, United States

• Glenn Cardwell, Accredited Practising Dietitian, Nutrition Impact P/L, Australia

• Chris Rowley, Communications Consultant, Australia

• Juan Valverde, Food Science Programme Manager, Monaghan Mushrooms Group, Ireland

• Taffy Spencer, Edelman Public Relations, United States

Strategic Communications GroupMembers of the Strategic Communications Group strengthen the Initiative’s communication capability and develop a local public relations presence in each country/market that is participating in the project. Members of this group help facilitate stories about mushrooms and health appearing in their local media, monitor mushroom nutrition and health research, liaison with scientists, media and other influencers, and provide feedback to the Initiative.

They include:• Stefanie Delbeke – Belgium

• Elizabeth O’Neil Meurehg – Canada

• Kent Stenvang – Denmark

• Franz Schmaus – Germany

• Annemieke Bouwmeester – Netherlands

• Jose Antonio Jimenez Hernandez – Spain

• Stephen Allen – United Kingdom