Trends in Mushroom Cultivation and Breeding (Report‪)‬

Introduction Mushrooms have been cultivated since ancient times for their nutritional value and flavour especially in the far eastern countries. The protein found in mushrooms is less than in animals but much more than in most plants. They have low fat content, high fibre and all essential amino acids and with the exception of iron, contain all important minerals too (Sadler, 2003). On exposure to UV-light, mushrooms also produce large amounts of vitamin D, which is normally difficult to obtain from a regular diet intake. In light of the growing incidences of cancer in today's world, it is high time people woke up to the beneficial effects of mushrooms and utilized their cancer-fighting qualities. This low cost vegetable is not only packed with nutrients like vitamin D but also has properties to ward off cancer, HIV-1 AIDS and numerous other diseases (Beelman et al., 2003). It is an economical crop to cultivate, requiring low resources and area, can be grown throughout the world and all over the year from low-cost starting materials. There is tremendous potential and appeal for growing a highly nutritious food with excellent taste from substrates that are plentiful and not very expensive (Beetz and Kustudia, 2004). Also, it is very environmental friendly, capable of converting the lignocellulosic waste materials into food, feed and fertilizers (Hadar et al., 1992; Jaradat, 2010). However, mushroom consumption and production is relatively low in comparison to other crops and investment in the mushroom industry is not very large (Chang, 2006). Of all protected crops grown in the world, the mushrooms have the largest gross value in terms of area grown but the total gross value of all protected crops is only a third of the value of the wheat crop. Study of mushroom science is a relatively new approach and the mushroom industry is still small compared to other crops and therefore investment is limited.