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-Amanita and Gymnopilus Species: a-Amanita muscaria, b-Amanita muscaria var formosa; c-Amanita gemmate; dAmanita pantherina, e-Amanita regalis, f-Gymnopilus luteus, gGymnopilus spectabilis.
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This article reviews evidence for India's entheomycological traditions-religious practices using fungi to produce spiritual experiences-and proposes needed studies. The proposed fungal identity [Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.] of the entheogenic Soma and the identity of soma substitutes still lack adequate ethnobotanical studies. Furthermore, the need...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... Supplementary Table 1 -Psychoactive Mushroom Species Reported from India‖ presents the findings of psychoactive mushroom species that have been documented for India with the locations, repository information and psychoactive ingredients; some of these species are illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The 36 psychoactive species of India presented were first derived from the list of Guzmán, Allen and Gartz 31 and augmented through review of approximately 80 published papers and 50 online articles on the genera Amanita, Copelandia, Gymnopilus, Inocybe, Panaeolus and Psilocybe in India. These species were assessed with ...
Context 2
... study used photographs of entheogenic species of India identified in Guzmán, Allen & Gartz 31 Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The priests confirmed local entheomycological knowledge upon examining the photos, proclaiming: -Those are the mushrooms of Khajuraho!‖ The village priest and Sthaniya Sadhu recognized all species with native nomenclature, providing uses, medicinal properties and dried samples for some varieties. Two mushroom varieties were identified ...
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... Antioxidant Activity Mushrooms contain very valuable nutrients. Although they are generally known by mycologists and mushroom growers with these features, mushrooms have started to be recognized in a serious way with the increase in conscious consumers in recent years (Winkelman et al., 2022). In addition to their nutritional properties, they have many biological activities (Sevindik, 2021). ...
... The consumption of wild mushrooms includes up to 283 species in India, among over 2000 species recorded worldwide (Purkayastha and Chandra 1985). Therefore, it is evident that Indian ethnomycological traditions warrant a careful review and further scrutiny (Winkelman et al. 2022), underscoring the importance of this field in understanding and preserving the country's unique mycological heritage. ...
Editorial
MycoIndia: Advancing Academic Insights into Indian Mycology
... There also exist many ancient Khajuraho sculptures that depict mushrooms. The natives living in this region of India possess ethnomycological knowledge relating to a diverse array of psychedelic mushroom species (Winkelman et al., 2022). Maillart-Garg and Winkelman (2019) propose that the central placement of mushroom sculptures represent their association with Vedic, Jain, Hindu, and/or Buddhist gods. ...
Psychedelic mushrooms containing psilocybin and related tryptamines have long been used for ethnomycological purposes, but emerging evidence points to the potential therapeutic value of these mushrooms to address modern neurological, psychiatric health, and related disorders. As a result, psilocybin containing mushrooms represent a re-emerging frontier for mycological, biochemical, neuroscience, and pharmacology research. This work presents crucial information related to traditional use of psychedelic mushrooms, as well as research trends and knowledge gaps related to their diversity and distribution, technologies for quantification of tryptamines and other tryptophan-derived metabolites, as well as biosynthetic mechanisms for their production within mushrooms. In addition, we explore the current state of knowledge for how psilocybin and related tryptamines are metabolized in humans and their pharmacological effects, including beneficial and hazardous human health implications. Finally, we describe opportunities and challenges for investigating the cultural production of psychedelic mushrooms and metabolic engineering approaches to alter secondary metabolite production through biotechnology approaches integrated with machine learning. Ultimately, this critical review of all aspects related to psychedelic mushrooms represents a roadmap for future research efforts that will pave the way to new applications and refined protocols.
This annotated bibliography comprises 49 texts concerning psilocybin mushroom practices developed by Indigenous peoples. The books and articles have been selected for their academic rigor, relevance, and historical significance, and to foreground overlooked research and subject matter. This includes research on a plurality of contemporary practices and evidence of historical uses, from cultural traditions in Mexico and other regions of the world. The curated texts are sourced from various disciplines, including anthropology, history, archaeology, ethnolinguistics, and ethnomycology. Employing diverse methodological and analytical frameworks, the texts explore the diversity of ways Indigenous cultures have related with, utilized, and conceptualized psilocybin mushrooms and the effects occasioned by their consumption. The annotations include brief summaries of the texts, contextualization of the research, and more critical appraisals. The aim of this annotated bibliography is to offer the reader a diverse overview of the research to date and provide an accessible resource for further exploration of historical and contemporary Indigenous psilocybin practices. The team of psychedelic researchers behind this annotated bibliography hope it will contribute to more nuanced dialogue around Indigenous people and practices in the context of the so-called psychedelic renaissance.
Humans use mushrooms for food, medicine, poison, and other purposes. Traditionally, mushrooms are used to treat several diseases locally. Treatment knowledge using mushrooms exists in the local communities. The wealth of ethnomedicinal knowledge is directly proportional to the diversity of mushroom species in a said geographical area. Western Ghats of India, one of the global biodiversity hot spots, is the home to diverse ethnomedicinal mushrooms. Mushroom diversity is responsible for the valuable ethnomedicinal knowledge throughout the Western Ghats. Locally, mushrooms are collected from the wild for food and medicine. Ethnomedicinal mushrooms are gaining importance because of their established pharmacological evidence as medicines, nutraceuticals, and food supplements. Even now, most of the mushrooms are collected from the wild because only few of them have been commercialized using modern techniques. The unsustainable collection, habitat degradation because of human interference, and climate change pose a great threat to wild ethnomedicinal mushrooms. Hence, conservation and commercialization of potent ethnomedicinal mushrooms are the need of the hour.Keywords
Basidiomycota
EthnomedicineHuman healthMushroomsThe Western Ghats
