Mycology, cultivation, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Wolfiporia cocos (Schwein.) Ryvarden et Gilb.: A review

Wolfiporia cocos (Schwein.) Ryvarden et Gilb. has a long history as a Chinese traditional medicine with uses of inducing diuresis, excreting dampness, invigorating the spleen, and tranquilizing the mind. Recently, Wolfiporia cocos has received increasing interest, and phytochemical and pharmacological studies have validated the traditional uses of this species. To provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the mycology, cultivation, traditional uses, chemical constituents and pharmacological activities aspects of Wolfiporia cocos in order to highlight its ethnopharmacological use and to explore its therapeutic potentials and to provide a basis for future research. The accessible literature, from 1980 to 2012, on Wolfiporia cocos written in English, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish and Turkish were selected and analyzed. The phytochemical and modern pharmacological studies demonstrated that Wolfiporia cocos possess a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities, such as anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-rejection, nematicidal, anti-hyperglycemic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertonic stress activities, which could be explained by the presence of various triterpenes and polysaccharides. Modern phytochemical and pharmacological investigations showed that major active components separated from Wolfiporia cocos had anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-rejection activities, and so on. Further investigations are needed to explore the relationship of the molecular mass, chain stiffness, and water solubility of polysaccharide from Wolfiporia cocos with the antitumor activities.