# Mushroom Nutrition as Preventative Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa
## 4 African Mushrooms
The poor discovery, identification, and certification of edible and medicinal species of mushrooms in SSA retarded its potential use in nutrition, as tonic, and as medicine [41; 42]. Foraging for wild mushrooms in SSA Africa does play a significant role in sustaining their livelihood, but there are very few ethnomyecological reports and research on mushroom genetic resources, the cultivation of undomesticated wild mushrooms, protection, and lineage improvement [43]. With the application of molecular methods, it is now possible to identify mushrooms previously considered non-existent in SSA. _Hericium erinaceus_ was first reported in Tunisia, but it is common in SSA tropical forests in Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Madagascar, and currently, it is also successfully cultivated and South Africa, exporting annually over 440 tons [44]. Mushrooms produce a vast set of extracellular carbohydrate-active enzymes and biological active molecules that degrade very complex compounds such as hemicellulose and lignin. The variety of enzymes is dependent on the habitat and specific substrates, so it differs among mushroom species and home ground [45]. Desert mushroom truffles, used for thousands of years in Africa, include genera such as _Phaeungium, Terfezia, Delastreopsis, Balstonia, Delastria, Leucanguium, Mattirolomyces, Tirmania_, and _Tuber_[46], and they are of considerable interest for ecological reasons because of the low water input or organic matter required for sprouting. Various types of mushrooms and truffles (Figure 5) are considered as natural biota in the North Africa deserts [47; 48] and in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana [49]. Mushrooms belonging to species of _Termitomyces, Pleurotus, Lentius, Lenzites, Tametes, Ganoderma, Pycnorpus_, Coriolopsis, and _Calvatia_ have been reported to be used in folk medicine in West Africa. Some popular wild edible and medicinal mushrooms in West Africa include _Schizophyllum commune_, _Lactarius_ spp., _Chantarellus platphyllus, Volvariella volvacea_, and _Auricularia auricular-judae_[50; 51]. In the Namibe desert, _Agari  
Figure 5: African desert truffles genus Terfezia. cus campestris, Calvatia lilacina, Coprinus comatus, Ganderma spp., Schizophrenia commune, Volvariella volvacea, and Termitomyces._  
Specific to Africa, there are more than 1000 species from the family Termitidae, constituting 95% of soil insect biomass [52]. Although they are wild, the African mushrooms, and particularly those species associated with termites (_Termytomyces_), are considered \"superior\" to all other mushrooms [53]. There are about 30-40 mushroom species of _Termytomices_ whose cap can reach 1 m in diameter, and most are highly valued as food (Figure 6) [54]. On the other hand, mushrooms of the species _Termitomyces_, _Agaricus_, _Boletus_, _Pleurotus_, _Cantharellus_, _Macrolepiota_, _Ganoderma_, and _Geastrum_ have been reported in East and South Africa [37]. The indigenous population on miombo, a savanna type of ecosystem woodlands, relies directly on the timberland for their resources for wood fuel, food and wild fungi. This region extends from East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) to the Zampezian region (Angola, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe), where the most predominant mushrooms occurring include _Cantharellus_ (15 spp. ), _Lacarius_ (incl. _Lactifinus_) (14 spp. ), _Russula_ (10 spp. ), and _Anmitia_ (8 spp.) [55]. Despite its millennial existence and its empirical knowledge, harvesting wild mushrooms is not a well-known concept in Africa due to the threat of being poisonous and sociological impacts (myth, culture, and spirituality) [56; 57], while commercial production exists but is still in its early stages. Mushroom cultivation is a lucrative agricultural process to produce various essential nutrients from plant wastes, requiring a correct combination of compact space, temperate climate, high humidity, and organic substrates residues [58; 59].