[Physicochemical properties of melanins produced by Inonotus obliquus("chagi") in the nature and the cultivated fungus].

Physicochemical properties of pigments isolated from the naturally occurring sterile form of Inonotus obliquus (Fr.) Pil. known as Chagi and comprising the major constituent of the medicine befungin were compared with those of melanins synthesized by this fungus in the culture in order to develop a new medicine. Elemental and functional group analyses, as well as UV-visible, IR, and EPR spectra, and thermolysis studies revealed structural differences in these pigments and allowed for assignment of the naturally produced melanin to allomelanins, whereas that of cultivated fungus was assigned to eumelanins.