Toxicity Mechanisms and Potential Uses of Extracted Mushroom Toxins - Amatoxin, Antamanide, Muscurine

Mushroom, as a popular kind of wild edible fungi, has raised the attention of many scientists around the globe, due to the fact that increasing numbers of fatal mushroom poisoning cases worldwide have been reported each year. Therefore, to overcome the issue of fatality of mushrooms with an attempt to help people prevent mushroom poisoning, studying mushroom toxicology has become a significant topic to many biochemists; a growing number of researches are conducted focusing on mushroom toxins as well as their chemical properties and toxicity mechanism. In this review, properties and mechanisms of three major toxins (amatoxin, antamanide, muscarine) are chosen as the research focus. The three major toxins, which are extracted from wild mushrooms, will be summarized and studied based on past research findings. Our goals are trying to find possible treatments of each toxin as well as their potential usage in the pharmaceutical industry, which can be especially beneficial towards research of mushroom-extracted drug and food-poisoning toxicity treatment for further investigation and academic references.

Two species of Agaricus subg. Minoriopsis from Mexico

Agaricus is a species-rich genus with more than 500 species over the world. Recent studies on tropical Agaricus revealed new tropical clades and a revised taxonomic system was consequently developed. Agaricus subg. Minoriopsis, a sixth subgenus was recently added, comprising species exclusively from the Americas. The diversity of Agaricus is little studied in Mexico, despite this country has a long history in the consumption of wild edible fungi. In this paper, we introduce a new species A. guzmanii and a new record for A. globocystidiatus from Mexico based on morphological characteristics and molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that they belong to A. subg. Minoriopsis.

Management of Wild Edible Fungi in the Meseta Purépecha, Mexico

Mexico is an exceptional setting for ethnomycology since human cultures have interacted with fungi for thousands of years; the state of Michoacán is particularly important since nearly 11% of the fungi species recorded in Mexico occur there, 139 species being edible. This study aimed to analyze the taxonomic diversity and use forms of fungi, their position in worldview of people, and the management forms practiced on edible fungi in the Purépecha communities of Cherán and Pichátaro and the environmental problems in relationship with fungi management. We conducted semi-structured interviews during visits to regional markets, participant observations in harvesting areas, workshops, and presentation of results to the communities and communal authorities. We recorded ethnoecological information for 21 edible fungi species. The words jongo and terekua correspond to useful fungi in Purépecha, while jeramba refers to not edible fungi. In Cherán people identify different vegetation types where mushrooms occur; they recognize the “pinadas forest” dominated by Pinus leiophylla, “encineras” (dominated by Quercus crassipes), “tepamu forest” (dominated by Alnus acuminata), “sharhari forest” (Quercus aff. laeta), and grasslands, all of them sites where mushrooms grow. Fungi handlers identified environmental problems like land use changes, illegal extraction of forest resources, deforestation, unplanned urban growth, uncontrolled fires, livestock raising, and agricultural intensification, which affect fungi communities. In turn, these factors have secondary consequences like soil erosion, reduction of native vegetation and reduction of rainwater retention that directly disturb diversity, distribution, and abundance of fungi. Information from this study and workshops conducted with the community helped to design strategies for conservation of both forests and fungi.

An Overview of Wild Edible Fungi Resource Conservation and Its Utilization in Yunnan

As one of the province with the most abundant bio-diversity in China, Yunnan is also one of the most-concerned region in the world which is famous for its bio-diversity. The wild edible fungi resources in Yunnan are extremely rich and diverse, which account for nearly 40.7% of the world’s known resources and 90% of China’s known resource respectively. Serving as one important type of forest understory resource and product, the wild edible fungi has a large market due to its unique flavor, texture or special health care function. Therefore, sustainable utilization of the wild edible fungi resource is of paramount importance to develop the rural livelihood and furthermore conserve forest and animal resources in Yunnan. Integrating a large number of previous researches, this paper has summarized the current situations of edible fungi resources as well as the existing problems on production, food, medicine utilization, processing, trade and resource conservation inYunnan. Data showed that the wild edible fungi resources are playing extremely important roles on the peasant household incomes in the vast mountainous areas in Yunnan. For example, the fungi collection incomes can account for 50% to 80% of the household income in Xishuangbanna. However, the wild edible fungi resources are facing the problems of the reductions in resource types and quantities, unclear ownership, improper collection and conservation measures, unscientific management as well as other outstanding issues. The author point out that it is quite essential to clear the ownership, implement the community-based conservation strategies as well as to strengthen the researches on the scientific collection, conservation and breeding technologies in order to solve the problems in the effective conservation and sustainable utilization of the wild edible fungi resources in the future.

Mushroom Diversity of Chitarpur Coal-Mine Area of Latehar District in Jharkhand State, India

Mushroom is the fleshy, spore bearing fruiting body of fungus commonly used as food. In highly populated country like India, natural food resources like edible mushrooms are depleting day by day and there is possibility of extinction of many mushroom species in near future. Therefore a comprehensive study is necessary for data base conservation strategy and nutritional value evaluation of these wild edible fungi. The present study encompasses survey, collection, identification and ethno-mycological information of edibility and assessment of the nutritional value of mushrooms growing in Chitarpur area located in Latehar district of Jharkhnd state embellished with wide diversified mushrooms. A total of 70 number of species were documented by denoting their morphological identifying characters, fruiting bodies and their spores. These species come under 26 families and 45 genera; out of which 28 were lignophilous, 4 coprophilous, 32 chersophilous and 6 pedophilous mushrooms. Of these 15 were found to be edible while 38 were nonedible and 17 unknown as regards to the nature of their edibility. As regards to important families, Agaricaceae and Polyporaceae were the largest family represented by 10 species each followed by, Russulaceae with 5 and Marasmiaceae with 4 species. Among the prominent genera Agaricus, Lepiota, Leucocoprinus, Marasmius, Mycena and Lactarius were found to be dominant. Amanita muscuaria and Amanita multisquamosa were the two most poisonous species of mushrooms surveyed in the study site.