ABSTRACT
A variety of sources indicate that from very early times humans have used mushrooms collected in the wild as food, and it is estimated that the first intentional cultivation of mushrooms took place around a.d. 600, almost 1400 years ago. 6 The first species cultivated was Auricularia auricula, the next was Flammulina velutipes, which was first cultivated approximately 200 to 300 years later, and the third was Lentinula edodes, first cultivated about a.d. 1000 to 1100 (Table 11.1). All three of these species were first cultivated in China. In all, eight edible mushrooms, including five of the current most popular mushrooms, were cultivated prior to the 20th century; the remaining 31 were first successfully cultivated during the 20th century. The great increase in the number of species brought into cultivation in the 1980s and 1990s corresponds with the dramatic acceleration in total worldwide cultivated mushroom production (e.g., 0.90 million tons in 1975; 1.26 million tons in 1981; 2.18 million tons in 1986; 3.76 million tons in 1990; 4.91 million tons in 1994; and 6.16 million tons in 1997) of the ten most popular species: Agaricus bisporus/bitorquis, L. edodes, Pleurotus spp., Auricularia spp., Volvariella volvacea, E velutipes, Tremella fuciformis, Hypsizygus marmoreus, Pholiota nameko, and Grifola frondosa. Production of the new species has been minimal to date, but it does reflect on the great interest of consumers in known edible mushrooms as well as in new varieties. Mushroom scientists are making a great effort to bring wild species under domestication to satisfy this need.
