The general toxicity and the immunosuppressive effect of Phellinus lintenus were examined in rats and mice. From acute oral administration tests at doses up to 2,000 mg/kg, no toxic or lethal effects were observed resulting from the mycelial components. Furthermore, orally administered mycelial components exerted type-I allergy suppressive effects by inhibiting production of serum IgE and inhibiting formation of dermatitis-like skin lesions. These effects were more evident from hot-water extracts, as compared with culture filtrates.

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General thoughts about Japanese food customs regarding wild mushroom were statistically analyzed using information obtained by ethnologists. Although the distributions of the number of mushroom species used in the northeastern region and that in the southwestern region highly overlapped with each other, a significant difference was detected between the two regions. A scatter diagram representing the two counts, the number of species used and counts by subtracting the number of species that are dried from those that are salted for preservation, providing two separate clusters for the northeastern and the southwestern regions with some exceptions. These results deduced a simple model combining two factors, number of species used and method of process for preservation, to analyze Japanese food customs regarding wild mushrooms. A case study in central Japan by using this model, the transition of the custom from northeast to southwest was clearly shown in the difference of methods of preservation. Additionally, Mie Prefecture was pointed out as unique area which is a contact zone between northeast Japan, where variable species are used and preserved, and the southwest Japan where harvests are customarily dried for preservation.

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There are very few reports on the basidiospore disperse from fruit bodies of Tricholoma matsutake to this day. The purpose of this paper is to determine the basidiospore number and the falling term of basidiospore in laboratory. The spore prints of the fruit body were investigated in a dark condition. The clear prints were observed one day after standing the fruit body in a plastic box. The weight of basidiospores was increased the most on the third day after standing the fruit body in a plastic box. The total fallen number of basidiospores per fruit body during a span of 16 days was estimated to be about 7 billion 4 hundred million. There was no relationship between the basidiospore form and the days. The basidiospores germinated 14 days after inoculation on agar medium. They developed to form mycelia 20 days after they were cultured in a plastic box.

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