A review: The classification system of the medicinal mushroom Shanghuang Tropicoporus linteus (Phellinus linteus) and some new perspective on Sanghuang in Vietnam

Abstract

Sanghuang is the common name for a well-known traditional medicinal mushroom in China, Korea, Vietnam, and many other countries around the world. The mushroom is considered a miracle drug due to its valuable medicinal properties, such as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, liver protection, neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral effects, etc. In 1968, Phellinus linteus was the official scientific name for this Sanghuang mushroom. Since then, P. linteus has been widely used around the world and in Vietnam. However, in 1992, P. linteus was reclassified to Inonotus. In 2016, based on morphological analysis and ITS and nLSU rDNA sequence data, renamed P. linteus to Tropicoporus linteus. At the same time, the Inonotus complex was split into three genera: Inonotus, Tropicoporus, and Sanghuangporus. Especially in Zhou and colleagues”s report, the Sanghuangporus was regarded as a new genus representing Sanghuang from a modern perspective. In this article, we provide an overview of some new viewpoints in the taxonomy of the Sanghuang mushroom - Tropicoporus linteus and some closely related species, providing a new viewpoint on this medicinal mushroom in Vietnam.