Mushroom Queen using the power of medicinal mushrooms to fight cancer in Viet Nam.
If Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Thi Chinh has been nicknamed the Mushroom Queen in Viet Nam, it is because she has devoted her life to the study of medicinal mushrooms. Her company produces health food with different kinds of mushrooms and other natural ingredients. She also helped Vietnamese farmers cultivate mushrooms to increase their income.
Dr. Chinh is the Director of Ling Chih Mushroom Company Ltd, former Vice-Dean of the Vietnam National University’s Department of Microbiology of the University of Natural Sciences in Hanoi. She has been the Vice President of the Vietnam Community Health Care Education Association since 2008. She is a member of the Scientific Council of the Pharmacy Department of Thanh Do University.
As a student, Dr. Chinh wanted to become a pharmacist but instead was sent to Purkyne Brno University in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), where she studied microbiology from 1966 to 1972. After receiving a bachelor’s degree, she was offered to continue her master’s degree at the university and conduct research at the Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences in Prague. In 1973, she received her master’s degree, returned to Vietnam, and was appointed as a lecturer in microbiology at Hanoi University’s Biology Department.
She returned to Purkyne Brno University in 1984 to undertake research for her doctorate and patented her first invention in Czechoslovakia in 1986 for the “Production of Mushrooms using Micro-Biology Fermented Technology without Sterilization.”
Growing Medicinal Mushrooms in Viet Nam
Helping farmers grow mushrooms.
Her interest in mushrooms started at Purkyne Brno University. In 1975, she was the first to take several mushroom varieties from Czechoslovakia to Vietnam to grow them in Hanoi. In particular, she researched, tested, propagated, and mass-produced two particular fungi: Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom), providing food to Hanoi’s residents.
Her intention was to boost mushroom cultivation in Viet Nam, helping farmers grow mushrooms on their land using farm waste, and pulling them out of poverty, she said. She chose oyster mushrooms for their high nutritional value and yield. “I guided farmers to grow mushrooms in many provinces and cities across the country, through the Departments of Science and Technology of Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Thai Nguyen, Dac Lac, for example.”
Dr. Chinh’s production technology to grow Agaricus bisporus mushroom relies on a mixture of pig manure, chicken manure, and peat composted with straw. Her groundbreaking technology brought the fermentation time from 28 to 12 days, and her Oyster mushroom’s three-day incubation technology with unpasteurized microbial products providing high yield has been applied in many districts of the country, she explained.
Ling Chih Mushroom Company
In 2001, while teaching at Vietnam National University in Hanoi, she established Ling Chih Mushroom Company Ltd with her husband as acting director. The company was set up to conduct scientific research applied to producing and commercializing medicinal mushroom products, considered health food with active ingredients.
The company focuses mainly on Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi mushroom), Cordyceps millitaris and Cordyceps sinensis, Coriolus versicolor (also called Turkey Tail), and Hericium erinaceus (also called lion’s mane mushroom).
Fungal Beta Glucan Gold – An Immune Modulator for Treating Cancer
Dr. Chinh has 25 products on the market, all containing medicinal mushrooms. Some of her healthcare products have been certified by the Ministry of Health and have supported many cancer patients in Viet Nam and worldwide.
Her flagship product, “Beta Glucan Gold,” considered a health food licensed by the Ministry of Health, won a Global Food Industry Award during the 21st World Congress of Food Science and Technology in November 2022 in Singapore. Beta Glucan Gold combines many species of medicinal mushrooms and different biological active ingredients.
Health Benefits of Beta Glucan and Healing Mushrooms
The Ministry of Health’s Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals researched Beta Glucan Gold and found it inhibits the growth of Hep2C cervical cancer cells. After 72 hours, Dr. Chinh said, 100% of cancer cells are destroyed. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology also found that the product can inhibit SARS-COV-2.
Beta Glucans are a group of glucose polysaccharides naturally occurring in the cell walls of fungi. The Beta Glucans selected by Dr. Chinh in different kinds of medicinal mushrooms act on macrophages (our body’s natural defenders) to destroy pathogens and produce natural killer cells.
Another of Dr. Chinh’s products, “Hepaga,” supports the treatment of hepatitis B, while “Diabeta” supports the treatment of diabetes, and “Tugacofa” works against cancerous tumors.
Until 2021, her preparations were only in the form of powder, but they are now available as tablets.
Ling Chih Mushroom Company’s products are distributed in a few supermarkets across Viet Nam.
Medicinal Mushroom Cultivation and Educational Farming
The mushrooms are cultivated in a 15,000 square meters farm set in Kim Lan Commune, Gia Lam District in Hanoi. Dr. Chinh’s technology allows year-round cultivation of many types of mushrooms with a closed production process and modern machinery.
The farm serves for growing mushrooms but also has an educational purpose. In recent years, “I have received thousands of hundred thousands of people visiting the farms to understand how mushrooms grow,” she said.
Protecting VinIT’s Plasma Technology with IP
Dr. Chinh registered trademarks for several of her products, including Cordyceps, Ganoderma lucidum, Reishi mushroom spores, and Betaglucan gold in Viet Nam.
She and her team from the VinIT Institute of Technology received a patent in March 2023 for “Plasma technology sterilization chamber system to prevent cross-infection.” The system uses plasma technology to eliminate and prevent cross-infection of viruses, bacteria, and fungi in humans.
Exporting Medicinal Mushrooms and Investing Efforts in Cancer Research
An Australian company has contacted Ling Chih Mushroom Company to produce mushrooms according to their requirements. Following her Global Food Industry Award in Singapore, Dr. Chinh also received an order from a Singapore company.
Her product, Ganoderma lucidum biomass powder, was inspected by the Czech Republic in 2018 and licensed for circulation in Europe.
Dr. Chinh leads a joint Viet Nam/South Korean research project, which found the product can inhibit as much as 87 % of sarcoma 180 cancer cells (Sarcoma 180 is an animal cancer cell line used for cancer research). Ganoderma lucidum can also neutralize toxins and fight food poisoning.
Health for All - Fighting Cancer Globally
With the desire to help many people with cancer in Vietnam and around the world and improve the community’s health, Dr. Chinh plans to expand her production of mushrooms and open new markets for her products in Viet Nam and worldwide.
She is also building a « Mushroom Park » scheduled to open in 2025 to further people’s education about medicinal mushrooms and their potential.
