ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF

FUNGI

-SHIYAS
 WHAT ARE FUNGI

 Eukaryotic, Heterotrophic , single-

celled.
 Multinucleated or multicellular
organisms.
 Lack chlorophyll, can’t
photosynthesize.
 Get their nutrients directly from
other organisms.
 Have a true nucleus enclosed in a
membrane.
 Chitin in the cell wall.
 INTRODUCTION
a food

 Significant contributions to food

containing
health-giving
additives
science.
 For example: functional foods,
nutraceuticals.
 Biotechnology and engineering.
 For example: Large scale production
of fermented foods, edible
mushrooms, single cell proteins (SCP)
and fermented beverages.
Food Production Through Fungal
Biotechnology
 Food Products

 Fermented products
 Edible fungi
 Mycoproteins
 Dairy industry
 Flavors and aromas
EDIBLE FUNGI
 HISTORY

 It is assumed that the primitive man

consumed mushrooms
 Chinese are reported to have cultivated
some specialty mushrooms like
Auricularia, Flammulina and
Lentinula between 600–1000 AD
 The artificial cultivation of the common
button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)
in France around the year 1650
transformed the world of mushroom
production and consumption.
 INTRODUCTION

 Edible fleshy fungi are called

mushrooms, poisonous ones are
termed toadstools.
 Out of 10,000 species of fleshy fungi
about half of them are edible and as
many as 100 species are highly
poisonous.
 Of about 2000 edible fleshy fungi, 20
types are being artificially cultivated
and about ten are being produced and
 Fungi Cultivation?

 A fraction of the many fungi

consumed by humans are currently
cultivated and sold commercially.
 Commercial cultivation is important
ecologically, as there have been
concerns of depletion of larger fungi
such as chanterelles.
 Indoor cultivation of mushrooms
utilizing the vertical space is the
highest protein producer per unit area
and time, almost 100 times more than
the conventional agriculture and
animal husbandry.
 Scope to meet the worldwide food
shortage , without undue pressure on
land
 EXAMPLES

 1>Agaricus bisporous :
 white button mushroom
 30% of total production of all
mushrooms
 Mostly cultivated
 Cultivated by using compost
Mushroom Cultivation
COMPOSTING
COMPOSTING-2
 SPAWNING

 Mycelium of A. bisporus propagated

vegetatively on sterilized cereal grain
is known as "spawn”.
 CASING

 CASING LAYER:PEAT+LIMESTONE
 Mushrooms form only after the
compost is covered with a layer of
casing material.
 Increase fruiting body production and
provides appropriate moisture.
 Temp: 24oC.
 PINNING

 Knots of mycelia which grow to form

mushroom.
 Air temperature (to 16-18oC) and the
CO2 concentration (to 0.08%).
 first harvestable mushrooms
appearing 18 to 21 days after casing.
CROPPING
Cultivation In Polybag
 Specialty Mushrooms

 Encompass all mushrooms other than

the common button mushroom.
 Term given to a group of cultivated
mushrooms which are less common in
a particular area or country
 Eg: In USA , mushrooms other than A
. bisporous (90%) are considered
specialty. But in Japan A . bisporous
was produced only 10% of total edible
fungi. So in Japan it is specialty
mushrooms.
 Economically most significant
specialty mushrooms namely:
vPleurotus
vLentinus
vVolvariella
vAuricularia
 Together accounted for 75% of the
world production
Pleurotus spp. (Oyster Mushrooms)

 A group of species of the genus

Pleurotus are commercially
cultivated.
 Pleurotus ostreatus, is best known
species among oyster mushrooms
 The specific epithet “oyster”
obviously refers to its Oyster-shell like
appearance of the fruit bodies.
 5 – 30 degree centigrade.
Lentinula edodes (Shiitake)

 Shiitake is the second most important

commercial mushroom.
 25.4% of total mushroom production
 Unique taste and flavor
 Medicinal properties, such as
antitumor, hypocholesterolemic , and
antiviral properties
 We get Lentinan , a polysaccharide
from it.
 Volvariella spp. (Paddy Straw
Mushroom)

 Mushroom of the tropics and

subtropics
 Grows at a relatively high
temperature of around 350C.
 Easiest to cultivate and fast grower.
 Contributed only 3%.
 V. volvacea and V. bombycina
V. volvacea
Auricularia spp. (Wood Ear Mushroom)

 Typical ear like morphology with

cartilaginous texture and gelatinous
surface
 Very popular in China and Southeast
Asia
 Treatment of piles, sore throat,
anaemia and hypocholesterolemic
effect
 A. auricula and A. polytricha
Auricularia polytricha
 NUTRACEUTICALS

 A food or naturally occurring food

supplement thought to have a
beneficial effect on human health.
 Coined from "nutrition" and
"pharmaceutical" in 1989 by Stephen
De Felice
 When a functional food aids in the
prevention and/or treatment of
disease(s) and/or disorder(s), it is
called a nutraceutical.
 1> LENTINANS

 Lentinan, a glyco-protein extracted

from shiitake mushroom (Lentinula
edodes).
 Interestingly, in a test of Lentinan on
HIV patients, it was found that
Lentinan was effective in increasing t-
cells production only at low dosage.
At high dose, the patients tested
showed a lowered t-cell count.
SHIITAKE MUSHROOM
 2> CYCLOSPORINS

 Cyclosporin, an anti-tissue rejection

drug for organ transplant patients, is
derived from an entomogenous
fungus Cordyceps subsessilis.
 Cyclosporin is used to suppress the
immune system so that the
transplanted organ will not be
rejected.
 The caterpillar mushroom in TCM
(Traditional Chinese Medicine) is used
as a tonic to the lungs and kidneys
Cordyceps subsessilis
 3> KRESTIN

 A protein-bound polysaccharide
obtained from cultured mycelia of
Coriolus versicolor in
basidiomycetes.
 Antitumor action
 Preventive effect on chemical
carcinogen-induced, radiation-
induced, and spontaneously
developed carcinogenesis.
Coriolus versicolor
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