Lipid Lowering Effects of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) in Humans

Authors:
Inga Schneider, Gaby Kressel, Annette Meyer, Ulrich Krings, Ralf G. Berger, Andreas Hahn

Journal:
Journal of Functional Foods, 2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2010.11.004

---

Study Design

Randomized, placebo-controlled dietary intervention trial lasting 21 days.

Participants

20 adults (9 male, 11 female; aged 20–34) with untreated moderate hyperlipidemia.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either an oyster mushroom soup or a tomato soup placebo.

Intervention

• Treatment group: Soup containing 30 g freeze-dried Pleurotus ostreatus (equivalent to 300 g fresh mushroom)
• Control group: Tomato soup with matched nutrients but lower fiber (3.5 g vs. 18.5 g per portion)
• Both groups consumed 600 mL of their respective soups daily for 21 days.

Outcome Measures

• Total cholesterol (TC)
• Triacylglycerol (TG)
• Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL)
• High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL)
• Oxidized LDL (oxLDL)

---

Summary

This study was the first human trial to evaluate the lipid-lowering effects of Pleurotus ostreatus. After 21 days of daily consumption, participants in the mushroom group showed:

• Significant reductions in triacylglycerol (TG) (p = 0.015)
• Significant reduction in oxidized LDL (oxLDL) (p = 0.013)
• A trend toward reduced total cholesterol (p = 0.059)
• No significant changes in LDL or HDL levels

The placebo group (tomato soup) showed a significant increase in TG levels (p = 0.011).

These effects may be attributed to the mushroom’s high content of linoleic acid, ergosterol, and ergosta-derivatives, which demonstrated strong antioxidant and COX-inhibiting activity in vitro. Notably, no mevinolin (lovastatin) was detected in the mushroom soup.