Exploring the Medicinal Mushroom Diversity of Mahabubnagar District, Telangana State, India

Mushrooms play important roles in the environment and have medicinal potential, especially in traditional practices. In India, people utilise wild mushrooms for both food and medicinal purposes, which is the primary focus of ethnomycology. Telangana has various ecosystems that can support important medicinal fungi; however, there are few studies on this topic in the area. This study records the diversity of medicinal mushrooms in the Mahabubnagar district and captures traditional knowledge about their use. Fourteen mushroom species were recorded in the survey. They were classified into eleven families and five orders. This classification shows their importance in terms of shape, habitat, nutrition, medicine, and toxicity. Agaricus campestris, Auricularia fuscosuccinea, Daldinia childiae, Fomitopsis pinicola, Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma curtisii, Podoscypha petalodes, Schizophyllum commune and Xylaria hypoxylon showed strong antitumor and immune-modulating effects. Conocybe tenera has psychoactive and neuropharmacological Potential. Auricularia fuscosuccinea and Tremella mesenterica displayed anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant activity. Other mushrooms like Bovista longispora, Podoscypha petalodes and Podaxis pistilaris, and Trametes villosa showed antimicrobial and wound-healing properties. Non-edible fungi such as Xylaria hypoxylon are known to produce bioactive compounds exhibiting cytotoxic and anticancer properties. More research is necessary to unlock the potential of wild mushrooms for drug development and traditional medicine.