The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is a culinary mushroom. Mushrooms are considered a potential source of many essential nutrients and therapeutic bioactive compounds. Pleurotus ostreatus is a macro fungus that belongs to the class Basidiomycetes and the family Pleurotaceae, known as the oyster mushroom. It is the most important commercially cultivated mushroom in the world. Mushroom contains rich nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids, lipids and fibers. It is used as food and medicine. Mushroom contains more bioactive compounds such as peptides, polysaccharides, liposaccharides, glycoprotein, lectin, triterpenoid, fatty acids, essential amino acids and nucleosides. They are used traditionally as a medicine for different diseases. These mushrooms have been reported to be antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antihypercholesterolemic, antiatherogenic, anti-hyperglycemic and immunomodulating. This review gives information on the traditional uses, chemical composition and nutritional benefits of oyster mushrooms. These studies reveal that Pleurotus ostreatus is a source of medicinally active compounds with various pharmacological effects. These studies will be helpful to create interest in Pleurotus ostreatus and may be useful in developing a new reaction for further research.
INTRODUCTION:The oyster mushroom was firstly described in 1775 by Dutch naturalist Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (1727-1817). In 1871 German mycologist Paul Kummer transferred the Oyster mushroom to the genus Pleurotus. (A new genus that Kummer himself had defined in 1971), given its currently accepted name Pleurotus Ostreatus. It has long been cultivated in Asia, Japan, and the Chinese 1 .