History of mushroom consumption and its impact on traditional view on mycobiota – an example from Poland

Abstract

For millennia, fungi have been known by various communities as a valuable source of nutrition and medicines, however traditional view on mycobiota has changed throughout the history. A major role in this context played past scholars and scientists whose impact on attitude towards mushroom collection is also seen in our times. Their confrontation with traditional folk knowledge on mycobiota could be the cause of current division between mycophobic and mycophillic nations. The aim of this article is to present these changes from the perspective of Polish nation, which is currently considered as highly mycophillic. The visible change in scholars’ attitude towards fungi and acceptance of folk view on mushrooms took place not earlier than at the turn of XVIIIth and XIXth century. Long scientific reluctance to fungal kingdom has caused that knowledge about wild edible fungi is still limited and we still have broadly explore the world of fungi. With the right approach, mushrooms are able to provide us with many, possibly yet unknown benefits.