A fungus known as the "mushroom of immortality" will soon be grown and turned into health supplements in New Zealand.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has approved the mushroom called Ganoderma sichuanense for cultivation in New Zealand, it said in a statement on Thursday. The organism will be used to produce health supplements for domestic consumers and to be exported.
EPA said it will tap into a global market for supplements made from the fungus that is worth more than $3 billion.
For more than 2000 years, Ganoderma sichuanense has been harvested and used in traditional Chinese medicine for health benefits such as boosting the immune system and helping treat depression and high blood pressure.
Numerous scientific studies show supplements made from the fungus also have anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, EPA said.
The agency said the new organisms are safe and it is "highly improbable" the fungus could escape and harm people.
"EPA ensures new organisms entering the country are safe and won't have significant adverse effects on people or the environment," the agency's new organisms manager Miriam Robertson said in a statement.
"Our risk assessments found it is highly improbable the fungus could escape and harm people or the environment - given the strict containment conditions and the rules put in place. We have also identified potential economic benefits from cultivating this organism."
Alpha Health Care has applied to cultivate the organism, which is traditionally collected from forests or grown on farms, in industrial-sized fermentation vats or bioreactors.
No mushrooms or spores develop during this process and only the relevant molecules, called fungal polysaccharides, will be extracted, purified and dried for use in health products.
