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Health benefits of edible and medicinal mushrooms
Article By:
Wasser, Solomon P. Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Israel.
Last reviewed:2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB140278
Edible and medicinal mushrooms (MMs) have an established history of use in traditional Eastern Asian therapies. Many species of mushrooms have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. The use of mushrooms in traditional medicine has been well documented throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa (including Algeria, Egypt, and Yoruba populations in Nigeria and Benin). There is also a long history of the traditional use of mushrooms as curatives in Mesoamerica (especially for species of the genus Psilocybe). A very special role was assigned to fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) in Siberian and Tibetan shamanism, Buddhism, and Celtic myths. Many important MM species are rarely eaten as food because they are woody and have a bitter taste.
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