The history of Agaricus blazei Murrill

Agaricus blazei Murrill originally comes from the mountainous area in Piedade, Brazil. It was brought to Japan in 1965. Japanese farmer, who had lived in Brazil, found a rare mushroom, which did not exsist in Japan, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
That mushroom was named as "Agaricus blazei Murrill" by Dr. Heinemann, a texonomist of Agaricus, and given the Japanese name "Himematsutake" by Dr. Inosuke Iwade, professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Mie University. Dr. Iwade challenged the artificial culture of the mushroom, and he made it possible for the first time in the world in 1975.
Pharmacological actions of Agaricus blazei Murrill including enhancement of immunity were reported, and there was a great expectation in its effectiveness.
The cultivation method of Agaricus blazei Murrill were established in 1990s, and the amount of production increased. Therefore, it has been used as health food.
It is known that the constituents of Agaricus blazei Murrill vary greatly depending on their types, cultivation methods, and geographical locations.

Agaricus blazei Murrill is known to have plenty of vitamin B2, ergosterol, converted to vitamin D in our body, and linoleic acid in addition to potassium and magnesium.
Furthermore, it is known that Agaricus fruiting bodies contain β-(1→3)-D-glucan having anticancer activity, β-(1→6)-D-glucan protein complexes and nucleic, and mycelia section contain glucomannan.
Therefore, the study regarding Agaricus blazei Murrill has processed.

The study group, led by Dr. Hitoshi Ito, presented that Agaricus blazei Murill has anticancer activity at the 39th annual meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association, held in 1980. This announcement was covered widely in the media and received a lot of attention.
After that, the study has processed, and a lot of functions were revealed, for example, inhibiting the growth of cancer cell, relieving a pain, enhancing the immunity, reducing a blood glucose and preventing a liver disease.
Furthermore, it is revealed that these effectiveness of Agaricus blazei Murill including cancer prevention is very high compared to ganoderma lucidum used as medicinal mushroom.