Abstract:
Indigenous mushrooms are traditionally consumed worldwide and are appreciated for their
multifarious nutritional value, flavor and also priced for their economic and ecological benefits
as well as their medicinal properties. Besides all these benefits indigenous mushrooms are
seasonal they are mainly consumed during rainy season, also collection of indigenous
mushrooms has been decreasing due to changes in agricultural practices and degradation of
indigenous forests. Hence the project sought to develop protocols for domestication these
indigenous mushrooms so as to preserve the mushroom seed bank as well as to negate the
seasonality of indigenous mushrooms. A survey was conducted to identify mushrooms
distribution patterns, consumption patterns and most preferred mushrooms with potential for
domestication. For the survey a questionnaire was designed, 151 respondents were selected
from Karoi, Mapinga, Mhangura, Murombedzi, Trelawney, Magunje from Mashonaland West
Province using simple random and systematic sampling technique. The findings of the study
revealed that amanita zambiana was the most preferred followed by Cantharellus
Miombonsesis, Cantharellus Heimenneanus, Lactarius Kabansus. The distribution of
mushroom was significantly different (p<0.05) depending with the place and this was attributed
to the rainfall patterns, vegetation type and topography. It was therefore recommended to do
nutritional analysis for the most preferred mushrooms. Lactarius kabansus had the highest total
protein content of 27.8% ±1.3 while Cantharellus miombonsesis had the lowest protein content
value of 15.2 % ± 1.0. Amanita Zambiana had the highest ash content of 1.6%±0.8 whilst
cantharellus heinemannianus had the lowest ash value of 0.8%±0.6. Cantharellus
miombonsesis had the highest carbohydrate value of 77% ±1.3 whilst lactarius velutissimus
had the lowest carbohydrate value of 30%±1.2. Amanita Zambiana had the highest value for
fat content of 4%±1.6 and cantharellus miombonsesis had the lowest fat content value of
1.7%±0.8. For moisture content cantharellus miombonsesis had the highest value of 6.6%±1.2
whilst Lactarius velutimusis had 4.3%±0.8. These results show that these species of mushroom
are highly nutritive and these findings can be useful to encourage domestication of these
mushrooms. T edible mushrooms were subjected to domestication trials using wheat straw and
saw dust supplemented with chicken manure were used. These species were subjected to
different temperatures (180C, 250C, 300C). Out of the five edible mushrooms, amanita
zambiana was the only one that formed pinheads. Generally spawn running time ranged from
24± 2 to 65±1 days at 300C, this was dependent on specie. The optimum temperature for
mycelia run, spawn production and spawn run was 300C, though there was no significance with250C (p>0.05). There is need for further research to optimize the conditions necessary for
successful domestication of wild mushrooms in Zimbabwe.
