title: From edible to useful mushrooms--an attempt for the new economical assessment of large fungi.
abstract: According to the stand of the modern applied mycological research the most commonly used term "edible mushroom" does not express all significant aspects large fungi can be used for. Additionally to bioconversion for food and animal feed production there are at least three other fields where large fungi may also get economical relevance: for establishing of ectomycorrhiza, for medical application and for soil decontamination including environmental engineering. This new situation justifies the introduction of a new, all-embracing designation for large fungi. The term "useful mushroom" will be suggested. The various options of the use of mushrooms will be introduced and briefly discussed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mushroom Research, GAMU Ltd., Krefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Lelley
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D012106:Research