What Are Mushrooms?

Mushrooms comprise an extremely abundant and diverse world of fungi. They are something special in the living world, being neither plant nor animal. Belonging to a kingdom of their own, called Myceteae, all mushrooms are heterotrophic, meaning they cannot make their own food. Instead, they absorb nutrients from other sources of organic carbon such as complex organic polymers like cellulose, which get degraded by extracellular enzymes secreted by mushrooms. Taxonomically, mushrooms can be classified into two different categories: Basidiomycetes, which comprise many of the well-known genera, and Ascomycetes.

The structures that we refer to as mushrooms are in fact only the fruiting bodies of fungi. The vegetative parts of fungi, called mycelia, are a system of cordlike strands that branch out of soil, compost, wooden logs, and other lignocellulosic materials that are host to fungi. After some time, the matured mycelia growing on such materials produce the fruiting bodies we know as mushrooms.

As mentioned, mushrooms have been used by humans for thousands of years as food and medicine. More than 14,000 mushroom species are recognized by science, and among them, about 2,000 are classified as edible. These edible mushrooms can be categorized into 30 genera, with 270 species that bear potential therapeutic value in human health.

Medicinal Mushrooms in the 21st Century 3