Working on Mushroom cultivation and harnessing their potentials

Dr W Mohendro Singh (AO, IBSD, Imphal)
BRIC-Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (BRIC- IBSD) is promoting bio resources of North Eastern Region (NER) for the development of bio economy. BRIC-IBSD is working on several aspects of Mushroom resources of NER for their scientific validation, value addition to propel innovations for development of bioresources leading to drug discovery and development with leadership of Prof Pulok Kumar Mukher-jee, Director, IBSD, who is an expert in the field of natural products research and one of the word’s renowned scientist in exploring bio resources with their chemical, nutritional and therapeutic validation.
BRIC-IBSD is working on the documentation, scientific validation and evaluation of mushrooms for their nutritional benefits, therapeutic potentials and also proving training to different stakeholders for cultivation and product development to promote their livelihood through edible mushrooms.
Wild edible mushrooms act as an important food owing to their great taste, health benefits, and high nutritional value. Mushrooms are found abundantly in the north east India and its exploration is one of the needs of the hour before it gets extinct. To be mentioned, many have lost their life consuming wild mushroom due to lack of proper identification.
Despite their potential nutra- ceutical and therapeutic importance, many of these mushrooms remain unexplored and very less systematic research has been carried out for harnessing their potential used. The team of IBSD research group under the leadership of Dr. Pulok Kumar Mukherjee, Director, IBSD, Imphal has carried out the exploration and comprehensive survey of wild mush- rooms from various districts and habitats of Manipur for studying the nutraceutical and therapeutic properties. Biochemical and Molecular identification of the collected mushroom has led to analysis of 106 mushroom specimens, from which identification of 83 species has been successful. The specimens were further divided into three fungal classes: Agaricomycetes (93.9%), Sordariomycetes (4.8%), and Sareomycetes (1.2%). These species were classified into two phyla, with 93% belonging to Basidiomycota and 7% to Ascomycota. Among the most abundant orders were Polyporales (30.1%), Agaricales (22.8%), and Russulales (22.8%), with genera such as Russula (11 species), Trametes (7 species), Lactifluus (6 species), and Ganoderma being dominant.
IBSD has successfully compiled a compendium on the wild mushrooms of Manipur which highlighted a total of 70 species belonging to 2 phyla, 3 classes, 8 orders, 23 families, and 37 genera as a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to document and conserve the unique and rich diversity of wild mushrooms in Manipur.
This research would be the first step towards comprehending Manipur's wild mushroom diversity. Its results open up the possibility of a plethora of more species awaiting identification, providing a fascinating opportunity for future research to better grasp and comprehend the diversity and possible health advantages of mushrooms in Manipur. The data acquired here will surely act as a reference and a catalyst for future studies seeking to uncover the diversity of macrofungi across distinct ecological niches in Manipur.
The information collected here will surely be a source of reference for academics in the future who wish to uncover the diversity of macrofungi in Manipur's many ecological niches.
(To be contd)