Study on the efficacy of untapped resources of Mushroom

Mushroom could be considered as ‘white vegetables’ or ‘boneless vegetarian meat’ owing to their peculiar taste, nutritive value and palatability. They can be defined as “A unique fruiting body that produces either epigeous or hypogenous spores, large enough to be seen with naked eye.” They usually behave as an organisms that are devoid of chlorophyll and vascular system, heterotrophic, saprophytic, absorb O2 and release CO2 which depicts that there characteristics are much more closely related to animal cells rather than plants. Mushrooms have various applications in both agricultural as well as in pharmaceutical sector. In agriculture they are used as soil conditioner, biofertilizer and in bioremediation while in pharmaceutical sector they possess antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-hypertensive, anti-nociceptive and hypo-cholesterolaemic / anti-atherogenic properties, that are good for diabetic patients. Owing to the growing awareness regarding its beneficial properties, there has been a dramatic increase in the interest, popularity, and production of mushrooms farming worldwide. The present review discuss about the multidimensional nature of the global mushroom cultivation industry, its role in addressing critical issues faced by humankind, and its positive contributions they have immense prospective for generating socio-economic impact in human welfare.