Kim explores medicinal mushrooms

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by Mary Lisa Russell

Eating shiitake mushrooms is nothing to sneeze at-- they may actually help you keep from catching the flu. Dr. Joo Kim, professor of food science and nutrition, said that for centuries the Asian culture has prized the shiitake mushroom not only for its taste, but for its medicinal values.

Kim's newest project, a textbook about the shiitake mushroom, includes recipes, growing techniques, and information about processing, storage, and the physiology of the shiitake mushroom, among other interesting facts.

Asians love the shiitake mushroom and the U.S. imports more than $200 million of the fungi each year from Asia.

Shiitake mushrooms contain about twice as much protein as most vegetables and also are a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides, which are believed to boost the immune system.

They contain iron, minerals, and vitamins with relatively high amounts of niacin and riboflavin. The shiitake mushroom can be an important source of protein and minerals for vegetarians and has only four calories per ounce.

Kim said that one of the latest and most exciting developments concerning the shiitake mushroom is the study of its anti-viral elements. He said researchers have been noticing something different occurring with field mice in the shiitake mushroom fields in Japan.

Field mice can get the flu just like humans do. However, researchers noticed the field mice that inhabited the shiitake mushroom fields were not contracting the virus.

On a trip last month to Japan, Kim visited a colleague working on the anti-viral element in the shiitake. His colleague told him he has succeeded in isolating the anti-viral element, but the research is considered top secret by the Japanese company.

Kim said that the medical benefits could be extremely valuable to patients suffering from viruses, like the flu or common cold.The shiitake mushroom is lauded as also having cancer-resisting elements. He hopes to include the newest developments on this research in his book.

Kim said his experience researching mushrooms has spanned three decades.

"I was once asked to run a mushroom-growing facility for one of the nation's largest supermarket suppliers," said Kim, "but I didn't want to give up teaching."

"I also was asked by a medical school to research the growing of psilocybe mushrooms, which contain hallucinogenic elements, but I ran into too much red tape," said Kim. "I finally just gave up because it was too hard and it would have been very hard on my graduate students, always having to be drug-tested and monitored."

Kim said he had turned down the study and after a few months was approached by a man that wanted to know how to grow psilocybe mushrooms. "I didn't know if he was a policeman testing me for my knowledge or just some guy that really wanted to do something illegal."

Kim said either way he did not want to have anything to do with the person. "You can get arrested for that," he told the man. Kim said that was the end of that situation.

Next fall marks 30 years Kim has been doing what he loves most -teaching and researching - despite other offers of employment. It also is the year his book will be published, which he is dedicating to the memory of Dr. B. B. Stoller, the man who befriended him years ago and shared his interest in researching mushrooms.

Stoller was a pioneer in mushroom research and his work is highly respected in the field. He also was the first person in the United States who had a Ph.D. in the field of mushroom research. Not only was he a scholar, but Stoller was a businessman who owned mushroom farms in several states.

After becoming terminally ill, Stoller set up a fund at Fresno State to help the School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

The Stoller Distinguished Professor of Food Technology was awarded to Kim in the 1993-94 academic year to further his and Stoller's mutual research in food science and nutrition.

During his career, Kim said he has raised close to a $1 million in grants and donations for mushroom research at Fresno State from state and federal agencies as well as private industry.

Kim said he intends to donate any proceeds from his soon-to-be-published book to an endowment fund to honor Stoller and to help further research in agriculture.