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Research Journal of Forestry

Year: 2018 | Volume: 12 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 1-14
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Donatha Damian Tibuhwa

Donatha Damian Tibuhwa

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Research Article

Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms Sold at Traditional Markets in Tanzania

Donatha Damian Tibuhwa Donatha Damian Tibuhwa's LiveDNA
Background and Objective: Mushrooms are non timber forest products that are sparingly studied. Ethnomycological studies are thus important to cut the need of knowledge on the consumption of medicinal mushrooms and their cultural values to people of different socio-economic levels. This study is conducted to present ethnomycological study on 31 traditional markets in Tanzania. Also to bestow a novel list of edible and medicinal mushrooms sold in these markets, highlighting the most sold and their tradition therapeutic applications. Materials and Methods: This study focused on ethnomycological information from vendors of both edible and medicinal mushrooms from 31 traditional markets in Tanzania. Semi-structured and face-to-face interviews were used to collect information from 151 individuals. The interviewees included rural harvesters (25%), renowned wholesale traders (10%), formal and informal vendors (43%), prominent consumers (16%) and some local traditional healers (6%). Agreement among vendors about the therapeutic uses of medicinal mushrooms was measured using the Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC) while the Fidelity Level (FL) was used to assess the most used medicinal mushroom species. Results: One hundred thirty three mushroom species were registered out of which 128 are edible whereas, 28 possessed health beneficial uses grouped into eight medical categories. The categories include ailments related to digestive, genitourinary, gynecologic, hormonal, circulatory, dermatological, respiratory system and general disorder. Vendor agreement for the ethno-medicinal uses varied (FIC = 0.95-0.82) with highest value reported in the digestive and circulatory systems medical categories. The highest FL values were observed in four species led by Ganoderma tsugae (FL = 0.85) while the least value was reported in Armillaria mellea (FL = 0.1). Conclusion: Studies in traditional markets are important for conserving ethnomycological knowledge transfer across generations. The four mushroom species which reported high FL values are recommended for further pharmacological and phytochemical studies into possible drug development.
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