Mushroom is a nutritious vegetarian delicacy and has many varieties. Most of them areedible. It contains many vitamins and minerals but very low on sugar and fat. It is easily digestible. It is very popular in most of the developed countries and is being accepted in many developing countries. Market for mushroom is growing rapidly because of its rich nutritional value and special taste aroma, flavor etc. Many exotic preparations are made from them like soup, pickles, it can be cooked in traditional way as standard vegetable. It is also used as stuffing for various food preparations and for garnishing. Its consumption is basically confined to the urban region. It has a very short life after being harvested and are sold in fresh form. Their shelf life is enhanced by processing and properly packing in good quality polythene or proper canning. This can then be stored and transported for selling in far of markets. The global mushroom market is primarily driven by the increasing demand for the organic products. Mushrooms are highly popular in Asian countries such as China, India, and Japan.

Mushroom cultivation can directly improve livelihoods through economic, nutritional and medicinal contributions. However, it is essential to note that some mushrooms are poisonous and may even be lethal, thus the need for extra caution in identifying those species that can be consumed as food. Mushrooms are a good source of vitamin B, C and D, including niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, and folate, and various minerals including potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper.

Mushrooms are the health food of the world. These are that fast growing basidiomycetous fungi which produce fleshy fruit bodies. They are rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals, so they are consumed as energy rich food. Mushroom has been attracting attention of mankind since ancient times and use of mushroom, as food is as old as human civilization. Mushrooms are superior to many vegetables and beans in their nutritive value. It is very rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Fresh mushrooms contain about 85% water and 3.2% protein. But dried mushrooms water content is low and protein level is high as 34 to 44% and the fat content is less than 0.3%. There are about 100 species of edible mushrooms all over the world. But only three of them are cultivated in India which are Agaricusbisporus, Volvariellavolvacea and pleurotussajorcaju. Unfortunately, it is realized that mushrooms did not receive universal acceptance over the years since a number of naturally growing mushrooms are poisonous. Now the situation has been changed because the cultivated edible mushrooms are totally safe for human consumption. Mushroom cultivation fits in very well with sustainable farming and has several advantages: it uses agricultural waste products, a high production per surface area can be obtained, after picking; the spent substrate is still a good soil conditioner. They have less carbohydrate so they are believed to be suitable for diabetic patients. Fresh mushrooms have very limited life and hence they need to be consumed within few hours. But processing and canning increases their shelf life to few months. Osmotic dehydration is one of the important methods of processing mushroom which involves drying technology of mushroom.

Some of the fundamentals of the book are nutritive value of edible mushrooms, medicinal value of mushrooms, advantages of mushrooms, symptoms of mushroom poisoning, morphology of common edible mushrooms, classification of fungi a brief survey, chemical composition, anti nutritional factors and shelf life of oyster mushroom , osmotic dehydration characteristics of button mushrooms, mushroom cultivation, cultivation of white button mushroom (agaricusbisporus), actors determining the amount of spawn needed, fungidues for mushroom diseases insectides for mushroom pets etc.

The present book contains cultivation, processing, dehydration, preservation and canning of various species of mushrooms. It is resourceful book for agriculturists, researchers, agriculture universities, consultants etc.

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