More than two thousand years ago, wild edible
mushrooms were used not only as a source of food
but also for their medicinal importance. The society
was then divided into the Mycophilic and
Mycophobic populations. The former knew the utility
of the fungus and propagated it, while the latter who
were unable to distinguish the edible from the nonedible
dreaded the poisonous fungi and preferred to
stay away from them. The classification of edible and
non-edible fungi paved the way for commercial
cultivation of edible fungi (Kovfeen, (1980). The
many remarkable ecological advantages of
cultivation of edible fungi include the efficient reintegration
of agricultural plant resides (e.g. horse
and chicken manure; cereal straw, bagasse, etc)
fungal substrate can also be formed from industrial
waste such as sawdust, sulphite liquor and residues
from paper industry (Kovfeen, 1980).