LETTERS: Mushrooms are famous for their meaty, mildly sweet flavour, giving off a savoury taste in every cooking.
Malaysia is rich in biological diversity and bestowed with the wonders of mushrooms.
Shiitake, enoki, button and paddy straw mushrooms are some of types commercialised by the food industry.
Little did we know that there are several ways of using mushrooms for medicinal purposes that have long been practised by our indigenous people or Orang Asli.
Orang Asli have invaluable knowledge of the natural resources on their traditional lands.
They are also skilled in traditional phytoremediation practices. Some of these methods are poorly documented too.
Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Unani, Jamu, Kampo, Iranian, Aztec or various forms of European and Arabic medicines are well-known examples of traditional medicine practices.
A research article published in 2018 that compiled ethnomycological data on the wild and edible mushrooms in Sabah stated that the Dusun people use Xylaria sp, a type of fungus, to make wristbands for health purposes.
Daldinia Concentrica, or also known as King Alfred's cake, cramp ball and coal fungus, is made into a paste and applied to the skin to treat itchiness.
In early 2019, a study on the traditional use of medicinal plants by the Temiar tribe in Kelantan claimed that they used tiger milk mushroom or lignosus rhinocerotis (cendawan susu harimau) in their healthcare system.
They crushed the fresh tiger milk mushroom and mixed it with water to relieve flu and fever.Ganoderma neo-japonicum, or cendawan senduk, is one of the most eminent mushrooms used by the Bateq, Jahai, Kensiu, Kintak, Lanoh, Semai, Temiar and Temuan tribes in Malaysia.
The basidiocarp is boiled in water, and the decoction is used to cure fever, asthma, diabetes, joint and body pains, as well as a tonic to increase physical strength.
To cure epilepsy, the stipe (stalk) is chopped into bead-like pieces, strung and worn around the neck of youngsters.
These are only a few of the hundreds of mushrooms traditionally used by our indigenous people.
What's intriguing is that some of these mushrooms have been scientifically proven for their medicinal value as an antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory agent.
The information held by Orang Asli is a treasure chest for researchers and scientists to embark on new scientific discoveries.
Hence, it is strongly believed that this information must be collected and studied before it becomes "extinct" since the Orang Asli youths have started to migrate to cities and the possibility of them inheriting the knowledge is scarce.
Dr Raseetha Vani Siva Manikam
Nur Amirah Izzah Nasarudin
Food Science and Technology Programme, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UiTM
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times