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- Humans have exploited the natural abilities of fungi to ferment fruits and grains to produce alcoholic beverages and bread since as early as 6000 BCE (9 – 11) and for cheese since at least 7500 BCE (12).
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0030-2016
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Fungi are renowned for their poisons to deter animals from feeding on them: even today humans die from eating poisonous fungi. A natural consequence of this is the virtual absence of obligate vertebrate fungivores, with the diprotodont family Potoridae being the major exception.
However, if you accidentally eat unsafe fungi, such as mold that grows on soft or porous foods, it can make you ill. Understanding what fungi are, the types and what happens if you eat fungi will help you stay healthy when deciding what foods to consume daily.
- Cat North
Oct 31, 2023 · Although we often think of fungi as organisms that cause disease and rot food, fungi are important to human life on many levels. They influence the well-being of human populations on a large scale because they are part of the nutrient cycle in ecosystems.
Fungi, as food, play a role in human nutrition in the form of mushrooms, and also as agents of fermentation in the production of bread, cheeses, alcoholic beverages, and numerous other food preparations.
Fungi digest their food externally by secreting enzymes and then absorbing dissolved organic matter. Some fungi actively capture their prey. Arthrobotrys oligospora lures nematode worms to it by releasing molecules that smell like the worm’s natural food. On arrival, the hapless worm is then dissolved and digested.
Since ancient times, humans have used fungi as food sources (1, 2). The edible sexual structures of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes (e.g., truffles), the so-called mushrooms, are produced mostly in wood because many fungi are tree symbionts or decayers of tree tissues.
Jun 30, 2020 · Fungi are everywhere and are vital to all life on Earth. They're on our bodies, in our food and amongst the ground we walk on. We take a look at some of the ways fungi are an essential part of our everyday lives.
