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Lactate bacteria of the Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera are normally employed in cheese making because these microbes have potent ability to produce lactate dehydrogenase. A milk-clotting enzyme is also necessary to make cheese. Recently, we discovered that some mushroom genera produce both lactate dehydrogenase and a milk-clotting enzyme. Using the mushroom Schizophyllum commune in place of a lactate bacterium, we produced a cheese-like food that contained about 0.58% beta-D-glucan, which has been shown to have preventive effects against cancer. The food also exhibited thrombosis prevention activity, prolonging the thrombin clotting time to 49.6-fold that of the control.

Bacillus natto is the main microorganism used to make natto (fermented soybeans), because this microbe has good ability to produce protease. However, it is known that some genera of mushroom also produce protease, and in this study we made a fermented soybean using a mushroom mycelia in place of B. natto. We found that the fermented soybean made using mycelia of Flammulina velutipes and Roseofomes subflexibilis showed a thrombosis preventing activity: a prolonged thrombin clotting time 8.2 fold that of control.

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