Exploring edible and medicinal mushrooms: Ethnomycological insights from Samarkand, Jizzakh and Kashkadarya regions of Uzbekistan

The knowledge about wild edible and medicinal mushrooms within local communities is passed from one generation to the next, this being one of the few fragile but effective ways of perpetuating knowledge. Documenting ethnomycological data is an important way to validate or correct the identification of specimens and the preservation of these natural resources with cultivation potential, thus improving their consumption and utilization for medicinal purposes. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on ethnobotanical and ethnomycological studies in Uzbekistan. Ethnomycological research carried out between 2022 and 2023 years in the Samarkand (SR), Jizzakh (JR) and Kashkadarya (KR) regions of Uzbekistan, presents valuable information about the most consumed and medicinally significant mushrooms. Uzbekistan does not have a rich traditional usage of Wild Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms (WEMMs) for culinary and medicinal purposes. Despite this fact, the existence of specific historically formed traditions on the use of wild edible and medicinal mushrooms in SR, JR and KR was reflected in the conducted ethnomycological research. Moreover, research aimed at collecting ethnomycological data based on interviews with informants has not previously been conducted in these regions. A total of 11 species of WEMMs belonging to seven families and ten genera Morchella, Agaricus, Pleurotus, Inonotus, Stropharia, Lepista, Calvatia, Bovista) are used by the inhabitants of the SR, JR and KR. Information regarding their traditional ethnomycological knowledge is provided.