Mushroom Research and Development Initiative (MRADI): L.E.A.R.N (Love Environment and Reliable Nutriceuticals) Program.

Mushroom Research And Development Initiative (M.R.A.D.I) paves a way to Wild edible mushroom as underestimated bio-resource of non-wood forest products (NWFP) in Tanzania.

Our Research, Development & Product Designing Department (RDPSD) conducted several research which reveals how forest products and forestry can contribute to alleviation of poverty and food insecurity. L.E.A.R.N program conducts the Promotion and development of non-wood forest products (NWFP) by improving the sustainable use of NWFP in order to improve income-generation and food security, to contribute to the wise management of the world's forests and to conserve their biodiversity and preparation of a catalogue of mushroom strains indigenous to Tanzania. This will be comprehensive and include, for example, data relating to the location, altitude and nature (e.g. miombo forest, grassland) of the collection site, prevailing climatic conditions, and mushroom distribution patterns. Canvassing of growers and the local population in general about sightings of mushroom fruit bodies growing in the wild will be employed in this program.

 However, most information on fungi is available on cultivated species while data on wild edible fungi (WEF) remain scarce. The classical method for identifying a macrofungus involves a microscopic examination of tissues, spores and spore structures. This will at least ensure that the genus is identified. Identification of the lesser known tropical species may also require examination of reference collections. Useful visual clues can be obtained from photographs in field guides (Mamaland Wild Mushroom Field Guide: Epitomized scientific taxonomical knowledge of wild mushroom to indigenous ethnomycology) which is ready-made, straight-forward field guide for indigenous wild mushroom collectors and hunters.

Mushrooms are highly perishable and seasonal, available mostly during rainy season. Extension of shelf life through different preservation methods is essential for value addition. Commonly used as mushroom preservation methods are soaking (in fresh or cold water), salting, boiling and sun drying, as well as smoking. Additionally, edible wild mushrooms can serves as a vital source of nutritious food and if well exploited can contribute to food and nutritional security especially in rural areas. Sustainable conservation of forests can also be achieved through proper harvesting methods to ensure continuous supply of mushrooms. Awareness on proper harnessing, processing and preserving should be provided to communities in rural areas where mushrooms are seasonally harvested as source of income generation and food although mushroom poisoning is another challenge since it is very difficult to differentiate between edible and poisonous mushrooms as some of mushrooms in the same families are very similar.
Mamaland Mushroom Farms harnessing, processing and preserving the edible fruit bodies of Afrocantharellus, Lactarius, Russula, Termitomyces and Amanita for storage and markerting. The mushrooms are cut into pieces and sun dried by Solar dryer innovated by our Production, Innovative Technology & Resources Management Department (PITRMD). Also mushrooms can be spread on a mat or a black nylon sheet in the sunshine for sun drying. Some, at least the acrid species, are parboiled before drying. In that case the dried mushrooms become very hard and need a long soaking or even grinding before use. Mamaland Mushroom Farms is officially offering dried edible wild mushrooms and its products for its valuable consumers. Our dried Lactarius are often sold mixed with dried Cantharellus as shown in pictures. Order yours today!

Mamaland Mushroom Farms (2015).
E-Mail:-Mamalandmushroomproject@gmail.com,
Phone: +255621-080300.
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Mamaland Mushroom Farms.
Blog: Mamalandmushroomproject.blogspot.com
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EDIBLE WILD MUSHROOMS: HEALTHY ‘MEAT’ OF THE FORESTS.

 EDIBLE WILD MUSHROOMS: 

HEALTHY ‘MEAT’ OF THE FORESTS.

In Tanzania, mushrooms are well known and consumed in many households. In the countryside and forest regions, several species are collected for consumption. During the onset of the rainy season, when mushrooms are abundant, most people in rural areas collect them from the forests for home consumption and sell for extra income. The diversity of the natural Miombo ecosystems in Tanzania provides the rural population with varied and nutritious diet and potentially high standard of living due to mushroom trade (EC-FAO, 2010).

Thus, further study on the socioeconomic contribution of wild edible mushroom value chain in the rural communities is necessary to give an insight on the potential of wild edible mushrooms as a source of food, medicine and income from woodland with Brachystegia and Uapaca spp.
Wild fungi with medicinal properties are also valued by rural people in several countries, though this is of secondary importance. Genera and species concepts were originally based on the narrower range of diversity found in temperate regions and these may require fundamental reappraisal as tropical species become better known.
Much of the original work on edible fungi has concentrated on the mycological or scientific aspects and, although much still remains to be done, the most significant gaps in information and knowledge concern social and economic aspects of use. Little is known about collectors and collecting practices, for example, or the relative importance of wild edible fungi compared with alternative sources of food or income. Sustainable production of wild edible fungi is not only about how to maximize yields but how to balance this resource with other uses and users of forests.
Wild edible species used in developing countries are poorly known. Some information is available from studies of close relatives in temperate regions. Russula and Lactarius occur around the world, for example, and knowledge of species in Europe can be applied with some caution and caveats to African species. The main problem is naming and recognizing species. Identification of species is mostly done by looking on features such as color, texture, smell, substrate where it grows and sometimes taste is used, naming of the species is done to keep memory and transfer the knowledge to next generation. Furthermore, the most commonly used species were those of the genera Afrocantharellus, Lactarius, Russula, Termitomyces and Amanita.
Inedible species can further expand the medicinal applications of mushrooms to the human population, making them valuable supplement to the few edible species already studied. In summary, since wild mushrooms are naturally abundant resource in most places in Tanzania, proper characterization is necessary to further improve its utilization in the rural communities. Steps should be taken to build capacity of folk taxonomists including documentation of edible, inedible and poisonous species found in their areas. Conventional characterization has proven to be more reliable in distinguishing species of wild mushrooms with sufficient precision to avoid the accidental mis-identification which may occur through the use of indigenous methods. Moreover, the rich biodiversity of wild mushrooms in Tanzania is only sparsely recorded. This is a potential source of increased food and nutritional security for the rural communities but only if appropriate characterization methods are utilized. Their wide geographical distribution, combined with the possibility of identifying new species, further justifies the importance of taxonomic characterization and documentation of edible and inedible wild mushroom species in Tanzania.

Mamaland Mushroom Farms (2015).
E-Mail:-Mamalandmushroomproject@gmail.com,
Phone: +255621-080300.
Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin/Google+: Mamaland Mushroom Farms.
Blog: Mamalandmushroomproject.blogspot.com
Fight Back Against Malnutrition, Save Lives.
Mushroom is Therapy. #Mushroom_Is_Therapy.




Fight Back Against Malnutrition,Save Lives. Mushroom is Therapy. #Mushroom_Is_Therapy.

MEDICINAL BUT LETHAL: SCHIZOPHYLLUM COMMUNE.

MEDICINAL BUT LETHAL: SCHIZOPHYLLUM COMMUNE.

Schizophyllum commune is a mushroom of phylum basidiomycota, Schizophyllaceae family, with worldwide distribution that colonizes diverse trees and rotting woods. During rain showers they opened up and were soft, pliable and more colorful – only to turn back to their hard and white stage when the sun came out again. They deserve a second look, especially their gills, because these are unique among mushrooms. The gills are split on the tips and the edges curl outwards; It is found in the wild on decaying trees after rainy seasons followed by dry spells where the mushrooms are naturally collected. Buller, a mycologist who was a keen observer of everything that has to do with spore production and dispersal, found out that even after two years of drought, a split gill fruitbody would spring back to life and start forming spores again when wetted. In wet weather, when the conditions for spore germination are ideal, they straighten out. Then the hymenium, where the spores are formed, is exposed and offspring can be sent out into the world. Split gills are the only fungi with this mechanism, and the anatomy of their fruitbodies is different from all other gilled mushrooms. Basically, they are formed by a fusion of several separate, smoothsurfaced, up-side-down cups in which, secondarily, the gills are formed. But these gills are not of the same type of tissue as in your Amanita. It is known for its high medicinal value and aromatic taste profile. It has recently attracted the medicinal industry for its immunomodulatory, antifungal, antineoplastic and antiviral activities that are higher than those of any other glucan complex carbohydrate.

Infections originating from this fungus are rare in humans. Diverse clinical cases include chronic or allergic sinusitis, pulmonary disease, ulcerative lesions of the palate, atypical meningitis, cerebral abscess, and possible onychomycosis, which can occur in immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. Infective propagules in this fungus are air transported, thus, most frequently compromising the paranasal sinuses; hence, the most common affliction is sinusitis that presents three clinical manifestations: allergy, chronic, noninvasive, and invasive (acute or chronic). Well-documented cases of S. commune infections include allergic bronchopulmonary disease, fungus ball in the lung, repeated isolation from the sputum of a patient with chronic lung disease, ulcerative lesions of the hard palate, and a nail infection. The isolation of S. commune from cerebrospinal fluid in a patient manifesting signs of atypical meningitis has been reported.
Fungal sinusitis is a rare entity that has increased in recent years in immunocompetent individuals. It reveals three clinical manifestations: allergic, chronic, noninvasive, and invasive. The allergic manifestation involves immunocompetent patients, and it is characterized by allergic mucin with eosinophils and Charcot-Leyden crystals, as well as increased serum IgE. The chronic noninvasive manifestation affects immunocompetent individuals and does not cause mucosal or blood vessel invasion. The invasive manifestation occurs in immunosuppressed individuals with tissue and vascular invasion.

Mamaland Mushroom Farms (2015).
E-Mail:-Mamalandmushroomproject@gmail.com,
Phone: +255621-080300.
Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin/Google+:Mamaland mushroom farm. Blog:Mamalandmushroomproject.blogspot.com
Fight Back Against Malnutrition,Save Lives.
Mushroom is Therapy. #Mushroom_Is_Therapy.

Pictures by: Mamaland Gallery.
© Mamaland Mushroom Farms (2015).