Abstract:In this study, the effects of the addition of ethanolic extracts of Gastrodin elata Bl. and Tartary buckwheat on the key enzymes, phosphogluconate mutase (PGM), UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) and phosphogluconate isomerase (GPI) during the synthesis of exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Grifola frondose were investigated. On this premise, animal experiments were conducted to explore further the anti-fatigue effect of Grifola frondosa-derived fermentation broth. The results showed that the addition of a mixture of Gastrodin elata Bl. and Tartary buckwheat alcoholic extracts compound solution could enhance the activities of PGM and UGPase while reducing GPI activity. Compared with the blank group, the activities of PGM and UGPase were increased by 86.98% and 69.12%, respectively, and the activity of GPI was decreased by 65.78%. In addition, the fermentation broth containing Gastrodin elata Bl-Tartary buckwheat alcoholic extract mixture had the greatest anti-fatigue effect, which was significantly higher than that of the blank group (p<0.05) and experimental group (p<0.05). The anti-fatigue effect, was evidenced mainly by the increases in the swimming exhaustion time, hepatic glycogen (HG) content and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) content, and the decreases in the contents of lactic acid (LA) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in mice. The research shows that the addition of the extract mixture could significantly change the activities of key enzymes in the EPS synthesis pathway of Grifola frondose, thereby increasing the content of EPS in the fermentation broth and endows the both with a good anti-fatigue effect.