The Wondrous of Fungus World

• Main Authors: Ishak, Wan Rosli Wan, Ng, Sze Han
• Other Authors: Azlan, Azrina
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Penerbit Universiti Putra Malaysia 2017
• Subjects: RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/38775/1/WR_SH%27s_Paper_2015_Mushroom.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/38775/
• Institution: Universiti Sains Malaysia

Mushrooms can be defined as “macrofungi” with distinctive fruiting bodies that could be hypogenous or epigeous, large enough to be seen by naked eyes and to be picked by hand (Chang & Miles, 1992). They contain no chlorophyll, therefore, do not have leaves, seeds or roots and in real do not need any light to grow. They are a group of fleshy macroscopic fungus which propagates by releasing spores in the dark and typically grew on its food source or on soil above ground. Through the process of fructification, the fruiting bodies are developed from spacious underground mycelia (hyphae). They require a substrate agricultural waste to absorb nutrition and produce enzymes which degrade complex organic matter (Walde et al., 2006). The estimated lifetime of fruiting bodies is only 10-14 days (Kalac, 2009).