“Sanghuang” is a rare, edible, medicinal macrofungus. However, various macrofungi that share similar appearances, habitats, and therapeutic effects with “Sanghuang” have been erroneously used in traditional folk medicine. As of date, metabolic differences among these “Sanghuang”‐like species have been unclear, impeding their commercial utilization. Moreover, despite the long history of its use, the bioactive ingredients of this macrofungus have not been designated. In this study, we performed metabolomics analysis of four representative species, namely, Inonotus hispidus , Phellinus igniarius , Sanghuangporus baumii , and Sanghuangporus vaninii , based on ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐QqQ‐MS). Using the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform, key active ingredients and active pharmaceutical ingredients for disease resistance were screened. Among the four species, 862 metabolites were identified, of which 74 were key active ingredients and 135 were active pharmaceutical ingredients against eight major diseases. Multivariate statistical analysis of metabolite differences among the four species revealed that the four selected species exhibited a distinct pattern of metabolite accumulation. These results highlight the importance of assessing the concentration of the respective metabolites when using different species of “Sanghuang”‐like species for medicinal purposes.
Guo et al. (Thu,) studied this question.