Volatile Components and Antitumor Activity of Ganoderma lucidum Spore Oil and Its Molecular Distillation Components

[Objectives] To compare the effects of molecular distillation on the flavor and antitumor activity of Ganoderma lucidum spore oil. [Methods] G. lucidum spore oil was separated and purified by molecular distillation technology, and the volatile components of different components of molecular distillation were analyzed by gas chromatography - ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) technology. Human liver carcinoma cells (HepG2), human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), and human cervical cancer cells (Hela) were selected as the tumor cell lines to be tested, and the cell viability was detected by the MTT assay. [Results] Molecular distillation effectively reduced small molecular substances produced by oil oxidation in G. lucidum spore oil, such as heptanal, octanal, linalool, hexanal, E-2-octanal, 3-ethylpyridine, etc. Among the heavy components, the content of esters was relatively high, mainly including ethyl levulinate, ethyl crotonate, and amyl butyrate. The MTT cytotoxicity test indicated that G. lucidum spore oil and its molecular distillation components had certain inhibitory effects on the growth of three tumor cells, and G. lucidum spore oil crude oil had the most significant antitumor activity. G. lucidum spore oil crude oil, heavy component, and light component had the most significant antitumor activity on HepG2 cells, followed by MCF-7 cells, and the weakest antitumor activity on Hela cells. The quality of G. lucidum spore oil became higher after molecular distillation, and the rancid smell was reduced, and molecular distillation had little effect on the antitumor activity of G. lucidum spores. [Conclusions] Molecular distillation technology can be applied to the refining of G. lucidum spore oil to improve product quality.