Abstract

 Microbial fermentation and transformation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important way to achieve a combination of modern biotechnology and TCM’s research, and gaining an increasing worldwide popularity as a new type of traditional Chinese medicinal processing approach to develop pharmaceuticals in therapeutic applications. This new technology not only broadens the scope of TCM’s research and application, but also provides us a new idea and way to understand and use TCM scientifically and effectively. This paper reviews the current status of microbial fermentation and transformation of TCM at home and abroad, mainly from TCM’s ideas, principles, existed problems and significances of research. The focus is on medicinal fungi fermentation and transformation of TCM. In the discussion of specific microorganisms, the emphasis is placed on Grifola frondosa (G. frondosa or Maitake) and Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum), for which experimental work has been on-going actively in the authors' laboratories. Other selected microorganisms will be discussed only briefly, aiming primarily to illustrate the current status of research in this area.

Key words: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), microbial fermentation and transformation, Grifola frondosa (G. frondosa or Maitake), Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum), microorganism.