Insights and Prospects Toward the Undergraduate Mycological Researches of Bicol University

Abstract

Mycology is a diverse field of study and yet relatively few mycological researches are published in the Philippines. This stems from a variety of problems such as limited number of experts, fewer mycological training, lack of financial and institutional support, and low preference for mycological researches. Unpublished undergraduate researches archived in educational institutions may mirror these research realities. This research was conducted to document the mycological researches of the Biology Department of Bicol University. Mycological researches were categorized into major themes. Highlights, focus, gaps, and challenges were reported. Results showed that only 76 of the 865 archived undergraduate research papers in the span of 33 years are mycological in nature, with only one published in a scientific journal. The 76 theses can be categorized into one of the following common themes: agricultural, biodiversity, food, industrial, and medical mycology. Among the agricultural-themed researches, most were on post-harvest pathology or plant pathology. In medical mycology, the majority merely used fungal species as test organisms for antifungal activities of plant extracts. To increase interests in fungi, three strategies are recommended: (1) increase exposure of students to mycological researches, (2) provide infrastructure and policy support for the actual conduct of experiments, and (3) encourage publication of results in peer-reviewed scientific journals. New research areas are also proposed that may be responsive to regional and national needs.