Walter Ardigò - Healing with Medicinal Mushrooms. A practical handbook

Medicinal mushrooms have an established history of use in traditional ancient therapies. Contemporary research has validated and documented much of the ancient knowledge. The interdisciplinary field of science that studies medicinal mushrooms has been developed and for the last three decades continues to demonstrate potent and unique properties of compounds extracted from a range of mushroom species. Modern clinical practice in Japan, China, Korea, Russia, the USA, France, and several other countries rely on mushroom-derived preparations.

Ancient oriental traditions have stressed the importance of several mushroom species, namely, Ling Zhi or Ganodermamushroom (Ganoderma lucidum (W. Curt.: Fr.) P. Karst.) and Lentinusmushroom ( Lentinus edodes(Berk.) Singer). Mushrooms have also played an important role in the treatment of ailments affecting rural populations of Eastern European countries. The most important species in these countries were Inonotus obliquus (Pers.: Fr.) Pilt (Chaga), Fomitopsis officinalis (Vill.: Fr.) Bond. et Singer (Wood Conk or Agaricon), Piptoporus betulinus (Bull.:Fr.) P.Karst. (Birch Polypore), and Fomes fomentarius Fr.: Fr (Tinder Bracket). These species were used in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, various forms of cancers, bronchial asthma, night sweats, etc. There is also a long history of traditional use of mushrooms as curatives in Mesoamerica (especially for species of the genus Psilocybe), in Africa (Yoruba populations in Nigeria and Benin), Algeria, and Egypt. A very special role was found in Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria (L.:Fr.) Pers.) in Siberia and Tibetan shamanism, Buddhism, and Celtic myths.

Mushrooms and fungi in general are extremely abundant and diverse worldwide. Recent estimates of the number of fungi on Earth range from 500,000 to more than 5 million species, with a widely accepted number of around 1.5 million published more than 20 years ago. To date, it is recommended that as many as 3 million species of fungi should be accepted for general application. Meanwhile, the total number of described fungi of all kinds is currently 110,000 species. The figure is based on the total number of species added to each genus given in the last edition of the Dictionary of Fungi and other recent publications. Mushrooms constitute 16,000 species of this total amount.