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Shiitake mushrooms

Lentinula edodes

Also known as Shiitake, Black forest mushroom, Chinese black mushroom

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A cultivated wood-decay fungus native to East Asia, sold fresh and dried. Drying concentrates its flavour compounds and is how most of the world crop is traded.

Gut & Digestive HealthImmune HealthHeart Health

Potential health benefits

Best supported: Limited

Ordered by how well the human research supports them — strongest first. A rating describes the state of the evidence, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Gut microbiome

Gut & Digestive Health
Limited evidence

Research suggests fungal beta-glucans and chitin reach the colon largely intact and are fermented there. Human data on shiitake specifically is early and the consequences of the microbial shifts are unclear.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Immune function

Immune Health
Limited evidence

A small number of trials report changes in immune cell markers after several weeks of eating shiitake. Those are laboratory measures rather than infection outcomes, and the injectable lentinan used in cancer care is a different thing entirely from eating mushrooms.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

3 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Blood lipid profile

Heart Health
Insufficient evidence

Shiitake are often credited with lowering cholesterol on the basis of a compound called eritadenine. That work is almost entirely in rodents, and human trials do not exist in any dependable quantity.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

3 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Shiitake mushrooms

Ask about Shiitake mushrooms

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Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories34 kcal2%
Protein2.24 g4%
Total fat0.49 g1%
Carbohydrate6.79 g2%
Fibre2.5 g9%
Total sugars2.38 g—
Water89.7 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin D0.4 µg2%
Thiamin (B1)0.015 mg1%
Riboflavin (B2)0.217 mg17%
Niacin (B3)3.88 mg24%
Pantothenic acid (B5)1.5 mg30%
Vitamin B60.293 mg17%
Folate13 µg3%
Minerals
Calcium2 mg0%
Iron0.41 mg2%
Magnesium20 mg5%
Phosphorus112 mg9%
Potassium304 mg6%
Sodium9 mg0%
Zinc1.03 mg9%
Copper0.142 mg16%
Manganese0.23 mg10%
Selenium5.7 µg10%
Other measured compounds
Ash0.73 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Mushrooms, shiitake, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 169242).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • cookedReduces lentinan and dermatitis risk

    Thorough cooking breaks down the lentinan held responsible for shiitake dermatitis. Cases are consistently associated with raw or barely cooked mushrooms.

  • driedIncreases vitamin D2 and flavour compounds

    Sun-drying exposes the mushrooms to ultraviolet light, which converts ergosterol into vitamin D2, and concentrates the guanylate compounds responsible for their savoury flavour. Machine-dried product does not gain the vitamin D.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    Shiitake dermatitis

    Eating raw or lightly cooked shiitake can cause a striking rash of itchy linear streaks across the trunk and limbs, appearing a day or two later and lasting a week or more. It is attributed to lentinan, which is broken down by thorough cooking.

  • Worth knowing

    Purine content of dried shiitake

    Dried shiitake are relatively high in purines. Vegetable and fungal purines have not been shown to raise gout risk the way meat and seafood do, but people managing gout sometimes prefer to moderate concentrated dried products.

  • Worth knowing

    Accumulation of heavy metals

    Like other fungi, shiitake take up metals such as cadmium from their growing substrate more efficiently than plants do. Cultivated product is regulated, but this argues against very large habitual intakes.