Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis)

Fungi are one of the most prevalent types of creatures (Araújo and Hughes, 2016). The fungal kingdom constitutes a six-phylum within the domain of eukaryotes (Lücking et al., 2021). However, it is hypothesised and partially supported that there are between one and four million species of fungi worldwide. Fungi inhabit a variety of ecological niches and are a source of enormous ecological diversity. Moreover, fungi serve numerous environmental tasks, similar to macrofungi, such as mushrooms. These fungi decompose dead organic debris and develop mutually advantageous partnerships, but they can also be pathogenic to plants and animals. Rotting dead matter mushrooms preserve soil nutrients by recycling, but mutualistic or pathogenic relationships may prevent specific organisms from dominating ecosystems to an excessive degree. Numerous cultures around the world have long acknowledged mushrooms as medicinal and nutritive food since 18,700 years ago (Spain), 6,000 years ago (China) and 4,600 years ago (Egypt). Mushroom use has been documented (Li et al., 2021a). Researchers do not even know how ancient humans discovered safe and edible mushroom species. Nevertheless, it was believed that it did, as with natural plants and other life forms gathered or bought for sustenance. Then, flavour, appearance and the absence of anaphylaxis indicate which mushrooms are safe to consume (Niazi and Ghafoor, 2021). According to a comprehensive literature assessment and reputable sources providing metabarcoding data, around 1,600,000 of the 6.2 million fungal species classified as Macromycetes produce sporocarps. Approximately 3,283 mushroom species have been classified as edible, representing approximately 20% of all mushroom species recorded in extant data. About 700 are considered functional medicinal mushrooms, with pharmacological qualities of 2,000 known, safe species and 10 of them have reached the level of commercial production many countries (Baldrian et al., 2021).