Advances on Myko-pharming of Wild Edible Mushrooms in the Philippines for the Biofunctional Food Industry

This paper presents the research and development efforts on “myko-pharming” of wild edible mushrooms in the Philippines, emphasizing their importance in the biofunctional food industry. Myko-pharming is unorthodoxically defined as the cultivation of medicinal mushrooms without necessarily resorting to the manipulation of their genetic constituents. A mycological survey of Philippine wild mushrooms primarily collected in Luzon is presented in this paper, as well as the innovative approach on Zero Rice Waste Technology, focusing on the efficient utilization of rice straw and rice bran as substrates for spawn and mushroom production. Also discussed are the paradigm shift on mushroom consumption (i.e., from being commonly used as culinary ingredients to being a functional food) and problems and prospects of myko-pharming and mushroom consumption that lacks science but only focused on the art of cultivation and consumption. Strategies to improve the industry were also tackled, including a strategy in capacity building to sustain the mushroom industry; participatory approach in the development and promotion of a rural-based mushroom industry that engages the different stakeholders which includes the spawn and mushroom growers, academe and research institutions, mushroom processors, local government units and other agencies and the mushroom associations, and;  the importance of scientific collaboration for knowledge creation in driving a vibrant and sustainable mushroom industry.