ABSTRACT
The world of mushrooms, owing to their sudden appearance in numbers, groups, rings, bunches, and also in isolation as a single attractive and imposing structure, has fascinated the man since time immemorial and references are available in the scriptures of many ancient civilizations. Theofrastus (372-227 BC), the great Greek philosopher, wrote about food value of mushroom when the latter found its way in the royal dishes for Greek and Roman emperors. There are indications that mushroom existed long before the Homo sapiens appeared on Earth, as evident from the fossil records of the lower Cretaceous period, i.e., about 130 million years ago; it is assumed that the primitive man also consumed mushrooms. The collection and consumption of mushrooms from the wild is still a practice in many regions of the world but the scenario changed after successful artificial cultivation of mushrooms. Though the Chinese are reported to have cultivated some specialty mushrooms like Auricularia, Flammulina and Lentinula between 6001000 AD but, undoubtedly, it was the artificial cultivation of the common button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) in France around the year 1650 which transformed the world of mushroom production and consumption.
