Sterols—An Important Player in the Antitumor Activity of Spore Powder and Spore Oil

There’s a class of bioactive compounds found in reishi mushrooms that consistently gets overlooked—sterols.

Just as all living organisms are composed of cells, so too is Ganoderma lucidum. In the case of Ganoderma lucidum, sterols are the primary constituents of cell membranes; through their lipophilic properties, they help maintain membrane stability. However, from a pharmacological perspective, sterols can inhibit the growth of tumor cells, making them particularly significant for humans who strive for good health.

Spores are the reproductive cells used by Ganoderma lucidum for propagation, and their cell membranes are rich in sterols.

Zhang Jingsong, Director of the Edible Fungi Research Institute at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, pointed out in his keynote report at the 9th World Congress on Edible Mushroom Biology and Products held in Shanghai in November 2018 that his research team had already isolated compounds from Ganoderma lucidum ( Ganoderma lucidum Four sterol components, including ergosterol, were isolated from spore powder, and each of these sterol components exhibited varying degrees of inhibitory effects on the proliferation of tumor cells.

Zhang Jinsong’s research team isolated four sterol compounds from Ganoderma lucidum spore powder (shown in the upper image), each of which exhibits varying degrees of inhibitory effects on tumor cell proliferation (shown in the lower image). (Photo taken at Zhang Jinsong’s presentation by Wu Tingyao.)

Since ergosterol is the primary sterol component in Ganoderma lucidum spores, Zhang Jinsong believes that ergosterol is well-suited as a quality-control indicator for companies when producing spore powder raw materials and manufacturing spore powder and spore oil products.

In other words, if the resulting spore powder and spore oil products contain a relatively high amount of ergosterol, their health claims for consumers are more likely to be well-supported. However, the ergosterol content can be influenced by many factors.

In his report, Zhang Jingsong pointed out that his research team used spore powder from Ganoderma lucidum sourced from three different regions as experimental samples and compared the ergosterol content measured before and after cell wall disruption of the spores. The results revealed a highly significant difference (as shown in the table below), demonstrating the importance of cell-wall disruption technology in enhancing the ergosterol content.

(Table prepared by Wu Tingyao; Source: Zhang Jingsong’s presentation at the 9th International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Products)

As can also be seen from the data in the table above, even after undergoing the same cell-wall-breaking treatment, spore powder samples from different sources exhibit considerable differences in their ergosterol content. This indicates that both the selection of Ganoderma lucidum varieties and cultivation conditions are important factors influencing ergosterol levels.

In addition, Zhang Jinsong pointed out in his report that the ergosterol content extracted after different durations of cell-wall disruption treatment of the same spore powder raw material also varies (as shown in the table below). Therefore, it is evident that, in the process of manufacturing related products, enterprises must establish standardized procedures to ensure relatively stable product quality.

(Table prepared by Wu Tingyao; Source: Zhang Jingsong’s presentation at the 9th International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Products)

Regarding the impact of Ganoderma lucidum spore powder raw material on the sterol content in the product, a similar report was also presented in the master’s thesis titled “Study on the Chemical Composition and Antitumor Activity of Ganoderma lucidum Spore Oil,” published in 2014 by Yu Su under the supervision of Professor Wang Yong from the School of Chinese Materia Medica at Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The study conducted animal experiments using the unsaponifiable fraction UMGSO from Ganoderma lucidum spore oil and demonstrated that it has an inhibitory effect on tumor growth. The main component of this unsaponifiable fraction is sterol (as shown in the table below).

Source: Study on the Chemical Composition and Antitumor Activity of Ganoderma Spore Oil. Master's Thesis in Chinese Materia Medica, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2014. (Note: The spore oil used in this animal experiment was provided by Fujian GanoHerb Biotechnology Co., Ltd.)

The researchers further extracted spore oils from 16 different geographical origin samples of spore powder using the same supercritical CO2 extraction technique under identical conditions, and analyzed them using the primary compound “ergoster-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one” (abbreviated as EG) as an indicator.

The results showed that the EG content varied significantly, with a gap of up to 34 times between the highest and lowest levels. Clearly, not all products labeled as “Ganoderma spore oil” contain the same amount of active ingredients.

The extraction process also affects the content of ergosterol.

In addition, the extraction process can also affect the sterol content in Ganoderma lucidum products.

The poster presentation by Fujian GanoHerb Biotechnology Co., Ltd. at the 9th World Congress of Mushroom Biology and Products, titled “Study on the Extraction of Ganoderma Triterpenes and Sterols by Supercritical CO2 at Different High Pressures and Their Antitumor Activity,” explored the effects of supercritical CO2 extraction at various high pressures on the content of Ganoderma triterpenes and sterols as well as their antitumor activity, and compared these results with those obtained using the traditional ethanol reflux extraction method.

Although the Reishi ingredient used is finely powdered fruiting bodies, it is still worth referencing products related to spore powder and spore oil—after all, the fruiting bodies themselves contain a certain amount of spore powder. The results showed that different processing methods indeed significantly affect the yields of triterpenes and sterols, with content differences as high as 50% or 60%. As for the inhibitory effect on tumor growth in animals, this effect is positively correlated with the dosage of triterpenes and sterols—higher concentrations lead to more pronounced effects.

A poster presentation by Fujian GanoHerb Biotechnology Co., Ltd. at the 9th World Congress of Mushroom Biology and Products, along with Wu Changhui, the principal investigator of the research team. (Photo by Wu Tingyao)

Although both are called “Lingzhi,” their meanings are quite different.

We now know that sterols are the key active ingredients responsible for the tumor-inhibiting effects of spore powder and spore oil—products processed from spore powder. We’ve also learned that the activity of these compounds is profoundly influenced by factors such as the source of the Ganoderma lucidum raw material, the cell-wall-breaking technology used, the extraction process, and whether the production process is standardized. The intricacies involved here go far beyond simply labeling a product as “Ganoderma spore powder,” “Ganoderma spore oil,” or merely including the word “Ganoderma” on the packaging—it’s a level of complexity that cannot be easily summarized or generalized.

To choose a product of sufficient quality, consumers may need to do more research and put in extra effort.

[About the Author / Wu Tingyao]

Having reported firsthand news about Lingzhi since 1999, he continues to do so to this day and is the author of “Lingzhi: Marvelous Beyond Words” (published by People’s Medical Publishing House in April 2017).

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