Temitomyces heimii– A Nutritious and Medicinally Important Wild Edible Mushroom of Similipal Forests, Odisha Boosting Tribal Health and Economy

Mushrooms are consumed worldwide because of their nutritional, medicinal values as well as pleasant taste and flavour. Wild edible mushrooms are source of livelihood for poor and landless people which they consume and sell the surplus mushrooms in the nearby market. Many people are not aware about the edibility of wild mushrooms which are generally confined to the tribal areas. However, tribals are aware of the edible mushrooms due to their age-old traditional uses and fond of hunting mushrooms during rainy season. The present paper deals with availability, collection, consumption pattern of wild edible mushrooms by tribals communities, along with preservation and economical contribution of Termitomyces heimii, a popular wild edible mushrooms profusely growing during rainy season of the Similipal, state of Odisha, India.