The influence of the hot water extract from shiitake medicinal mushroom, Lentinus edodes (higher Basidiomycetes) on the food intake, life span, and age-related locomotor activity of Drosophila melanogaster.

Shiitake medicinal mushroom, Lentinus edodes, is among the most widely cultivated edible mushrooms in the world and is a well-studied source of nutrients and biologically active compounds. We have studied the influence of the dietary supplement of the polysaccharides containing a hot water extract of the mushroom L. edodes on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster in terms of food intake, body weight, life span, and age-related locomotor activity.