Edible mycorrhizal fungi of the world: What is their role in forest sustainability, food security, biocultural conservation and climate change?

Abstract

Societal Impact StatementEdible mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) have been consumed since ancestral times by humans either as food, medicine or for ceremonial use. Nowadays, they are a non‐timber forest product and a diverse genetic resource with great ecological, sociocultural, economic, medicinal and biotechnological relevance around the world. Therefore, they have a paramount role to play in meeting the United Nations global sustainable development goals 2030. EMF may promote forest sustainability, biodiversity conservation, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through the maintenance of forest masses, human nutrition and health, economic development, conservation of biocultural heritages, women empowerment and hunger mitigation. We provide a worldwide review of the knowledge, biodiversity, novel approaches, future challenges and perspectives in the post‐COVID era of this important genetic resource whose relevance has usually received marginal attention despite its strategic global significance.SummaryEctomycorrhizal fungi play a key role in the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. They have a paramount importance in nutrient cycling, plant protection against pathogens and abiotic stress, and establishment of underground networks that connect trees and other plants in nature, therefore being the wood wide web, the ‘internet’ of the forests. According to our literature review, globally 970 mycorrhizal fungal species (including both mushrooms and truffles) are edible, and they have enormous relevance either as a source of subsistence in low‐income human groups around the world or as an important economic component whose international commerce is worth billions of American dollars annually. Since edible mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are a non‐timber forest product, their sustainable use and management is crucial in order to maintain forest stands and to provide well‐being to the human communities surrounding the forested areas where they grow. In different parts of the world, different cultures have developed a traditional knowledge of EMF over millennia. Their knowledge might play an important role in food supply and food security in the future, hence contributing towards the “zero hunger” global goal. The biotechnological development of EMF has also been crucial in the establishment of plantations, or successful reforestation and ecosystem restoration, which contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, a worldwide review of how EMF might contribute to forest sustainability, food supply, biocultural conservation, and hunger and climate change mitigation is addressed by analysing the similarities, contrasts and challenges in all five continents.