Wild Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms Used by the Tribes in the State of Kerala, India: A Review

Wild edible mushrooms are valuable dietary food to many tribal people around the world. Wild medicinal mushrooms are therapeutically important sources of bioactive compounds. Tribals in Kerala ('Adivasis' of Kerala) are the indigenous, ethnic populations live in the forests and mountains of Western Ghats, bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Cholanaikkans, Kurumbas, Kattunaikkans, Kadars and Koragas are the five primitive tribal groups in Kerala, constituting nearly 5% of the total tribal population in the State. The knowledge on edibility of mushrooms is mainly based on folk taxonomy and traditional knowledge of indigenous people. These tribal people use some wild mushrooms as their food and medicine for various ailments in their communities. Auricularia auriculata, Agaricus bisporus, Boletus edulis, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinus edodes, Lentinus squarrosulus etc. are therapeutically important medicinal mushrooms species used by the tribal people of Kerala. This article discusses about the wild edible and medicinal mushrooms used by different tribal communities in Kerala.