Prized edible Asian mushrooms: ecology, conservation and sustainability

Abstract

Mushrooms can be found in forests worldwide and have long been exploited as resources in developed economies because of their important agro-industrial, medicinal and commercial uses. For less developed countries, such as those within the Greater Mekong Subregion, wild harvesting and mushroom cultivation provides a much-needed alternative source of income for rural households. However, this has led to over-harvesting and ultimately environmental degradation in certain areas, thus management guidelines allowing for a more sustained approach to the use of wild mushrooms is required. This article addresses a selection of the most popular and highly sought after edible mushrooms from Greater Mekong Subregion: Astraeus hygrometricus, Boletus edulis, Morchella conica, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Phlebopus portentosus, Pleurotus giganteus, Termitomyces eurhizus, Thelephora ganbajun, Tricholoma matsuake, and Tuber indicum in terms of value, ecology and conservation. The greatest threat to these and many other mushroom species is that of habitat loss and over-harvesting of wild stocks, thus, by creating awareness of these issues we wish to enable a more sustainable use of these natural products. Thus our paper provides baseline data for these fungi so that future monitoring can establish the effects of continued harvesting on mushroom populations and the related host species.

New species of Phallus from a subtropical forest in Xishuangbanna, China

“…Scientific information on wild mushrooms is essential for the introduction of new species for the table (Mortimer et al 2012;Yang et al 2012). …”

Multigene phylogeny and morphology reveal that the Chinese medicinal mushroom ‘Cordyceps gunnii’ is Metacordyceps neogunnii sp. nov.

“…Berk. (Mortimer et al 2012) and are listed in Chinese pharmacopoeia. Because of limited wild resources and high prices, many fake cordyceps have been found in markets, so determination of genuine cordyceps and related products is especially important for quality control (Zhu et al 1998, Wen et al 2016.…”

A Comprehensive Review on Food and Medicinal Prospects of Astraeus hygrometricus

“…47 Astraeus hygrometricus is usually appreciated as herbal medicine in India and China. 48 Powder form of this mushroom found useful for healing burns, wounds and used as haemastatic agent in Chinese folk medicine. 45 Apart from nutritional data, scientific evidences acquired from the combination of in vitro and in vivo study of A. hygrometricus has provided a basis for its health-promoting effects.…”