For centuries,mushrooms have long been used as a valuable food source, for bioremediation and as traditional medicines around the world especially in Japan and China. Records of health promoting properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, cholesterol lowering and immunostimulatory effects have been reported in some species of mushrooms.It has been estimated that the number of mushrooms on earth is about 140,000, yet only 14,000 (10 per cent) are known. In essence, pharmacological potentials of about 90 per cent of mushrooms on earth are yet to be exploited. A large number of the unknown species of mushrooms whose health promoting properties are unknown, may be in Africa and probably in Nigeria. This is because there is little or no information about these mushrooms and their medicinal potentials. Nigeria with her unique climatic conditions, is a home to diverse species of mushrooms. But not all the medicinal properties of its mushrooms have been exploited, particularly mushrooms that are indigenous to Nigeria. However, in the last three to four decades, scientists in Nigeria have been gathering information on medicinal uses of mushrooms through survey. The use of these mushrooms varies from one ethnic group to the other and reports on the ethnomedicinal uses of mushroom include its usefulness in the treatment of arthritis, headache, cold, constipation, infertility, diabetes, liver diseases, immune boosters and as an antioxidant. For example, a study in 2007 indicated the blood sugar lowering effect of aqueous extract of Ganoderma lucidum, a species of mushroom, in rats. This mushroom was collected from Zaria.Similarly, two tropical edible mushrooms Pleurtotus tuber-regium and Termitomyces clypeatus helped to lower blood cholesterol level in male albino rats fed high fat diets.But preliminary studies on the ecology, identification and medicinal uses of some Nigeria mushroom, indicated challenges to the full exploitation of the medicinal potentials of mushrooms indigenous to Nigeria.Writing on the 'Medicinal Uses Of Mushrooms In Nigeria: Towards Full And Sustainable Exploitation' in a 2011 edition of African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, Olusegun V.Oyetayo indicated that inadequate data on the identity and medicinal properties of these wild mushrooms was a challenge to full exploitation of the medicinal benefits of mushroom.Oyetayo, a lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, highlighted other factors militating against full exploitation of edible/medicinal mushrooms in Nigeria to include inability of most Nigerians to distinguish edible from poisonous types, trade secret by local herbalist who keeps information to enhance patronage, and seasonal nature of mushrooms which makes them unavailable throughout the year. Others include change in lifestyle and social stigmas faced by people consuming traditional foods made from mushrooms. They are perceived as 'poor' and lacking awareness especially by the young generation.Several issues are begging for answer. Are the ethnomedicinal properties of mushrooms obtained from survey actually true' What are the major bioactive constituents in mushrooms found in Nigeria' Are the bioactive substances found in mushrooms indigenous to Nigeria more efficacious or otherwise than those obtained in mushrooms in other parts of the world'According to the don 'most researchers in Nigeria identify mushroom by examining with the naked eye based on phenotypic characters. It has been impossible to distinguish between genetically related species by this method.'Mushrooms belonging to the same and even different genera may look similar. The implication of the above statement is that some mushrooms reported in this area might have been erroneously identified.It is, therefore, imperative that a combination of morphological and molecular identification based on gene sequence be employed for correct identification. Oyetayo pointed out that with proper and correct identification of different varieties of Nigerian mushroom, it would be possible to carry out its comparison with mushrooms from other countries, in terms of their medicinal efficacy and chemical constituents.In view of challenges faced by researchers working on edible/medicinal mushrooms such as poor research funding and attitude of policy makers towards research, and lack of state of the art equipment for identification and assessing the medicinal properties of these mushrooms, he called for more collaborative researches on identification, cultivation and assessment of health properties of indigenous Nigeria mushrooms.In addition, the researcher called for increased awareness on the health promoting effect of edible and medicinal mushrooms among the populace; encouragement of small scale farming in the production of mushrooms as well as increased sponsorship of research by government and corporate sponsorship in mycopharmaceuticals.He wrote: 'Mushroom cultivation, which is both an art and science, had been described as a complex business that requires precision. Hence, technology for cultivating mushrooms that are indigenous to Nigeria had to be developed. 'Practical steps in cultivating mushrooms such as selection of an acceptable mushroom species, secretion of a good-quality fruiting culture, development of robust spawn, preparation of selective substrate/compost, care of mycelia (spawn) running, management of fruiting and mushroom development, and careful harvesting of mushrooms have to be religiously followed.'The populace needs to be enlightened on some morphological features that laymen can use to distinguish edible from non edible/poisonous mushrooms.Conclusively, the researcher declared: 'full and sustainable exploitation of the indigenous Nigerian mushroom may lead to the emergence of myconutraceutical industries which will help in tackling the problem of unemployment and consequently reduce poverty.
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