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This does not mean that light is an irrelevant requirement, since some fungi use light as a signal for fruiting. [1] [2] However, all the materials for growth must already be present in the growth medium. Mushrooms grow well at relative humidity levels of around 95–100%, and substrate moisture levels of 50 to 75%. [1]
Medicinal fungi are fungi that contain metabolites or can be induced to produce metabolites through biotechnology to develop prescription drugs. Compounds successfully developed into drugs or under research include those treating infection with amoeba , bacteria , fungus , virus , inhibitors of cholesterol and ergosterol synthesis, and ...
The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
"Mushroom" has been used for polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. Thus, the term is more one of common application to macroscopic fungal fruiting bodies than one having precise taxonomic meaning. Approximately 14,000 species of mushrooms are described. [10]
Many fungi and microorganisms have been domesticated by humans for use in food production, medicine, and research. The following is a list of domesticated fungi and microorganisms: Food
Frying, roasting, baking, and microwaving are all used to prepare mushrooms. Cooking lowers the amount of water present in the food. Mushrooms do not go mushy with long term cooking because the chitin that gives most of the structure to a mushroom does not break down until 380 °C (716 °F) which is not reached in any normal cooking. [39] [40]
[1] The fungi grow in soil, decaying vegetation and various staple foodstuffs and commodities such as hay, maize, peanuts, coffee, wheat, millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, chili peppers, cottonseed, tree nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and various cereal grains and oil seeds. In short, the relevant fungi grow on almost any crop or food.
Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and infection. Yeasts are among the most heavily utilized members of the Kingdom Fungi, particularly in food manufacturing. [2] Mycology branches into the field of phytopathology, the study of plant diseases. The two disciplines are closely related ...