Mushroom Culture

Medicinal Mushrooms

• Mushrooms were earlier collected and eaten for their good taste, but later these came to be known as special kind of food because of their medicinal and dietery values. Liu (1993 ) and others have stated that Ganoderma has been valued in China for its medicinal properties. Many fungi have been discovered for their anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti- viral, anti-tumour and other properties of pharmacological values
• For centuries, the Japanese have hailed the shiitake mushroom ( Lentinulla edodes ) as an “ elixir of life ”, a cure-all, revitalizing both body and soul, a cure for cancer, impotency, senility and a host of other ailments .Chinese have also described them as “ Elixir of life ”. Romans considered them as “ Foods of God ”, whereas Greeks regarded them as “Providing strength to soldiers in the war ”. FAO has also considered mushrooms as a food for underdeveloped countries where the protein malnutrition is very common.
• Chinese have roughly sorted out 107 kinds of medicinal mushrooms. Most of them are edible but few poisonous species are also in their list. Chinese are cultivating about 20 mushrooms which are anti cancerous ( polysaccharide –peptide of Coriolus versicolor ) , liver protective agent ( Polysaccharide of shiitake mushroom ), recuperating medicines for the stomach and intestine, stimulating the secretion of bile, cure for dizziness and headache ( Armillaria melea, the honey mushroom ) , sedative ( Ganoderma lucidum ) and antiradiation drug ( Tremella fuciformis ) .Similar types of antitumour , immunopotentiator and interferon stimulating polysaccharides have been found in Flammulina velutipes, Ganoderma applanatum, G.lucidum, Boletus edulis, Coriolus veriscolor, Calvatia gigantea, Tricholoma matsutake, Phelinus linteus, Pholiota nameko, Lentinulla edodes etc.

Fig. Shows: Medicinal mushrooms at their cropping stage with fruiting bodies