Edible Mushroom Diversity of Odisha

Abstract

Mushrooms are consumed worldwide because of their nutritional, medicinal value as well as pleasant taste and flavor. It is a source of livelihood for poor and landless people as they are consumed both cultivated and wild. However, many people are not aware of the edibility of wild mushrooms which are generally confined to the tribal areas. The present investigation was undertaken for collection, identification, and preservation of wild edible mushrooms of the state of Odisha, India. Odisha has a greater diversity in respect to soil and flora. During the study, eighteen edible mushroom species belonging to ten genera were obtained from thirty districts. The genera were Amanita, Auricularia, Boletus, Calocybe, Lentinus, Pleurotus, Russula, Tuber, Termitomyces and Volvariella. Among the mushrooms collected, species of Termitomyces and Volvariella were found most predominant in the coastal and central part of the state and widely consumed by the people. Similarly, species of Russula, Termitomyces, and Tuber were more frequently available in some of the western districts associated with Sal and Palasa. From the present investigation, few promising species can be explored for their domestication in view of their food value as well as their livelihood support of the rural poor.