Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Methods for Lingzhi Pharmacologically Active Components

Lingzhi is the Chinese name given to the Ganoderma family of mushrooms, which was considered the most valuable medicine in ancient China and was believed to bring longevity, due to its mysterious power of healing the body and calming the mind. Today, Lingzhi is still widely revered as a valuable health supplement and herbal medicine worldwide, as studies (mostly conducted in China, Korea, Japan and the United States) into the medicinal and nutritional values of Lingzhi revealed that it does indeed contain certain bioactive ingredients (such as triterpenes and polysaccharides) that might be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of a variety of ailments, including important diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis, cancers, and AIDS. As research into the biological activities of Lingzhi, as well as the quality assurance and quality control of Lingzhi products, require the isolation/purification of active ingredients from Lingzhi, followed by subsequent analytical and/or preparative separations, the present review summarizes the various chromatographic and electrophoretic methods (as well as sample pretreatment methods) typically employed to achieve such extraction/separation procedures.