title: Mushrooms and truffles: historical biofactories for complementary medicine in Africa and in the middle East.
abstract: The ethnopharmaceutical approach is important for the discovery and development of natural product research and requires a deep understanding not only of biometabolites discovery and profiling but also of cultural and social science. For millennia, epigeous macrofungi (mushrooms) and hypogeous macrofungi (truffles) were considered as precious food in many cultures based on their high nutritional value and characterized pleasant aroma. In African and Middle Eastern cultures, macrofungi have long history as high nutritional food and were widely applied in folk medicine. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available information related to the nutritional and medicinal value of African and Middle Eastern macrofungi and to highlight their application in complementary folk medicine in this part of the world.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, 81130, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia ; City of Scientific Research and Technology Application, New Burg Al Arab, Alexandrai 21934, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hesham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El Enshasy
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts Research Chair, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia ; Department of Natural and Microbial Products, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo 12311, Egypt.
authors.forename: Elsayed A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Elsayed
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, 81130, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ramlan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts Research Chair, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohamad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wadaan