Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) is a popular fungus for use as folk medicine in health maintenance and disease prevention and treatment. Disc culture is a novel technique for producing AC fruiting bodies. This study aimed to investigate the bioactive components and toxicological properties of disc-cultured AC fruiting body powders (ACP) in rats. The HPLC technique was used to quantify the composition of bioactive triterpenoids in ACP. Toxicological properties were evaluated on male and female Sprague-Dawley rats receiving ACP orally at 200, 600, and 1000 mg/kg body weight for 90 days; the control group received only distilled water. The results show that ACP contained seven important AC index compounds, namely antcins A, B, C, K, and H, dehydrosulphurenic acid, and dehydroeburicoic acid. At the tested doses, oral ACP administration for 90 days caused no mortality, adverse effects on general health, body and organ weights, and food intake. Furthermore, no significant variations were observed in hematological and biochemical parameters among either sex of ACP-treated and control animals. An histopathological examination of vital organs showed no significant structural changes in organs, even in high-dose ACP-treated animals. This study indicated that ACP contained the major bioactive triterpenoids of AC fruiting bodies, and its no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was 1000 mg/kg/day, about 20 times the recommended daily intake.
Keywords: Antrodia cinnamomea; bioactive triterpenoids; disc culture; fruiting bodies; toxicological properties.