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Identification and collection of medicinal mushrooms from DR Congo through an ethnomycological investigation

par Manya Mboni, Henry ;Milenge Kamalebo, Héritier;Kasongo Wa Kgoy Kashiki, Bill ;Dibaluka, Simon;Rizinde, Jean-Claude;De Kesel, André;Degreef, Jérôme ;Stévigny, Caroline
Référence International Medicinal Mushroom (11: 27-30/09/2022: Serbia)
Publication Publié, 2022-09-22

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Résumé :

Ethnopharmacological relevance: This study aimed to collect and gather information on medicinal mushrooms used to treat various pathologies in DRC. Material and methods: Structured and semi-structured surveys allowed collecting ethnomycological data among Congolese most popular traditional healers of five provinces throughout D. R: Congo (Haut-Katanga, Kinshasa, Kongo-Central, Nord-Kivu and Tshopo). Vernacular names, main illnesses or symptoms treated, methods of preparation and administration of remedies, and treatment methods were recorded. Fungal specimens were harvested in the presence of the informant and were identified with the help of mycologists present in the five provinces of DRC and at Meise Botanic Garden (Belgium). Results: A total of 20 medicinal mushroom species belonging to 15 genera and 13 families were identified in the different studied areas, all of these mushrooms were also reported to be wild, some of them edible. The study has highlighted that the most represented families are Auriculariaceae and Polyporaceae both with 4 species (20 %), followed by Hypoxylaceae with 2 species (10 %). The species Daldinia eschscholtzii (Ehrenb.) Rehm (Hypoxylaceae) and Pycnoporus sanguineus (L.) Murrill (Polyporaceae) were the most frequently cited. Schizophyllum commune Fr. (Schizophyllaceae) is known as a medicinal mushroom in Haut-Katanga, Nord-Kivu and Tshopo. All these fungi species are collected in the wild and some of them are also used as food. In addition, each mushroom has minimum one of the local names of 5 provinces studied. Our investigation revealed that the 20 recorded fungal species are used to treat 27 symptoms or pathologies; sexual impotence being the pathology treated by at least 3 fungal species. In most cases, medicinal mushroom remedies are prepared using the entire mushroom (90 %), by cooking (26.9 %) and grinding the raw mushroom (23.1 %) and administering it orally (46.2 %). Conclusion: In all of the 5 surveyed provinces of the DRC, the populations use mushrooms to treat various pathologies and symptoms. The most cited mushrooms should be investigated in more detail, i.e. for their nutrient composition and active pharmacological components.