Fungi are extensively used for their medicinal and magical-religious properties. Many cultures use fungi with hallucinogenic properties. The ingestion of hallucino- genic mushrooms leads to changes in individual perception, such as changes in vision and hearing, which are interpreted by many cultures as contact with the spirit world (Schultes and Hofmann 1993 ). By observing this phenomenon in different cultures, Robert Wasson coined the term entheogen to designate resources or substances that allow the connection of people with god (Wasson et al. 1992 ). In entheogenic cul- tures, fungi act as mediators between the spiritual world and the human world.
From the pharmacological point of view, the hallucinogenic effects of fungi can be attributed to chemical substances with psychoactive properties that act on the central nervous system. Some of these substances have been isolated in laboratory, such as psilocin and psilocybin, which are responsible for the psychoactive activity
of the Psilocybe genus (Gartz et al. 1994 ). Muscimol and ibotenic acid compounds have been isolated from Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam. fungus, which causes halluci- nogenic effects in people who ingest the mushroom (Satora et al. 2005 ).
In traditional medicine, fungi are employed for the treatment of several diseases in human groups that are considered mycophilic (Akpaja et al. 2005 ). Cordyceps genus, for example, has been used throughout traditional Chinese medicine history in the treatment of respiratory, kidney, heart, and liver diseases, in addition to immune disorders (Holliday and Cleaver 2008 ; Khan et al. 2010 ). Fungi have an important history as antibiotics since the discovery of penicillin in 1927. In addi- tion, they possess mutagenic compounds and substances identifi ed to exert antitu- mor activity in the laboratory (Wainwright 2008 ; Aly et al. 2011 ).
The use of fungi as food is also signifi cant. Historically, fungi have been used as edibles in China, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, and Central and South Africa (Boa 2004 ). Approximately 1000 species have already been reported to be edible and are con- sumed and marketed in countries on every continent of the planet (Boa 2004 ). Mushrooms are primarily used for food by the Bini language people in a rural com- munity in Southern Nigeria; for example, approximately 90 % of people in this com- munity consume fungi as food, while 21.6 % use it for medicinal purposes (Akpaja et al. 2005 ). Most of these people consume fungi as food based on the following cri- teria: taste, use as a meat substitute, and nutritional qualities. From a nutritional stand- point, fungi are important for health due to the presence of protein in their composition and being rich in vitamins, minerals (Lincoff 2010 ), and energy supplies (see Table 1 ).
Table 1 Chemical composition and energy value of certain fungi species that are used as important
sources of food in different regions of the world
Species Total fat Crude protein Carbohydrates Total sugars Energy Agaricus arvensis Schaeff. 0.14 ± 0.00 2.87 ± 0.19 1.91 ± 0.24 0.35 ± 0.01 20.38 ± 1.71 Auricularia auricula
(Bull.) Quél.
– 8.9 – – 2.88 Boletus aureus Schaeff. 4.47 ± 0.02 27.17 ± 0.15 62.10 ± 0.10 – – Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers. 1.75 ± 0.27 15.40 ± 0.38 79.36 ± 0.33 23.63 ± 0.94 394.79 ± 0.95 Lactarius deliciosus (L.) Gray 0.22 ± 0.00 2.96 ± 0.04 6.26 ± 0.15 1.63 ± 0.01 38.86 ± 0.75 Lentinus edodes (Berk.)
Pegler 1.01 ± 0.10 12.76 ± 0.24 81.94 ± 0.40 38.31 ± 1.01 387.89 ± 0.26 Leucopaxillus giganteus (Sowerby) Singer 0.41 ± 0.02 3.40 ± 0.01 3.11 ± 0.21 0.64 ± 0.00 29.73 ± 1.05 Sarcodon imbricatus (L.) P. Karst. 0.09 ± 0.01 2.35 ± 0.02 3.38 ± 0.03 1.89 ± 0.01 23.73 ± 0.28 Tricholoma portentosum (Fr.) Quél. 0.38 ± 0.02 2.12 ± 0.08 3.64 ± 0.16 1.53 ± 0.03 26.46 ± 1.14 Xerocomus badius Quél. 4.22 ± 0.03 8.08 ± 0.14 80.38 ± 0.15 11.77 ± 0.03 391.83 ± 0.04
Energy component values are represented by the kcal/100 g unit. Remaining component values are represented by the g/100 g unit
Table information is based on Aletor ( 1995 ), Boas ( 2004 ), Barros et al. ( 2007 ), Ouzouni et al. ( 2009 ), Carneiro et al. ( 2013 ), and Heleno et al. ( 2015a , b )
Given their medicinal, food, and magical-religious importance in the histories of different societies, in addition to their importance in biomedicine development, fungi are important components in ethnobiological studies that try to understand the relationships between people and these uses, both in the past and in the present.
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137 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
U.P. Albuquerque, R. Alves (eds.), Introduction to Ethnobiology, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28155-1_21
Viviany Teixeira do Nascimento , Letícia Zenóbia de Oliveira Campos , and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque
Abstract Food plants are characterized as having one or more parts that can be
used in human food. In this group, there are nonconventional food plants that were for decades the main resources used by hunter-gatherer people. Although many of these species are common, their uses are currently neglected, even by human popu- lations living in direct contact with native vegetation and developing subsistence practices. In this chapter, we elucidate the important contributions of nonconven- tional food plants in the diets of human populations over time. We will also high- light the factors that infl uence the selection of food plants that are used by different communities around the world. Finally, we discuss strategies for the dissemination and popularization of these species.
We will adopt the term “nonconventional food plants” to refer to both species con- sidered as weeds or invasive and wild plants, generically called “bush plants,” a type of genetic resource with potential food uses that often go unexplored (Kinupp and Barros 2007 ). These foods, which were essential in maintaining the food security of hunter-gatherer communities (Jaenicke and Hoschele-Zeledon 2006 ), are now vir- tually unexplored. This fact has been evidenced by recent studies that record an exacerbated loss of knowledge regarding nonconventional food plants, even when known are neglected (Nascimento et al. 2012 ; Crúz et al. 2013 ).
The decrease in the use and therefore in the knowledge of nonconventional food plants is the result of the infl uence of various factors, such as improvements to people’s quality of life, ease of access to exotic plants and industrial products, and
V. T. do Nascimento (*)
University of Bahia , State. Campus IX.Rodovia BR 242, Km 4, s/n, Loteamento Flamengo , 47800-000 Barreiras , Bahia , Brazil
e-mail: [email protected] L.Z.O. Campos • U. P. Albuquerque
Laboratory of Applied and Theoretical Ethnobiology (LEA), Department of Biology , Federal Rural University of Pernambuco , Av. Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos , 52171-900 Recife , Pernambuco , Brazil
migration to urban centers, which restricts contact with species present in the regions where people live (Ladio and Rapoport 2002 ; Crúz et al. 2013 ). Another aggravating factor is that, in many places, these plants are used in emergencies (famine foods), i.e., they are only used when there is a shortage of resources (Nascimento et al. 2012 ).