Immunological regulation, effects, extraction mechanisms, healthy utilization, and bioactivity of edible fungi: A comprehensive review

Abstract The immune system is the body's first barrier to disease resistance, so immunomodulators occupy an important position in modern nutrition and health care industries. As a special kind of food with immune function, edible fungi contain many ingredients that can be used as immunomodulators. Edible fungi mainly promote cell apoptosis, induce autophagy in cancer cells, alleviate autophagy in damaged cells, and regulate cell polarization. Furthermore, it also facilitates to regulate or strengthen the body's immune system too. Some edible fungus can release immune factors through humoral immunity to improve the body's immunity. Therefore, based on the characteristics of edible fungi, it can be immunomodulated by multiple pathways and multiple targets; In addition, the extraction of edible fungi immunomodulatory compounds and the industry chain of edible fungi have also been research hotspots in recent years. Therefore, it has a good application prospect for the development of edible fungi. This article systematically expounds the types of edible fungi immunomodulatory compounds, extraction methods, immunomodulatory effects, edible fungi‐related industrial chains, and so on, in order to lay the foundation for follow‐up research. Practical Applications This article takes the extraction and healthy utilization of edible fungi's biologically active substances as a starting point and summarizes the immune regulation and mechanism of edible fungi, with a view to in‐depth study of the immune regulation mechanism and endogenousness of edible fungi. Overall, this review would provide a detailed understanding and discussions on the health promoting characteristics of edible fungi, which will facilitate the manufacturers with associated products.