Mushrooms are fungi with definitive fruiting body, large enough to be seen with the naked eyes and they are so distinct in nature that they are classified as their own kingdom-separate from plants or animals. Mushrooms have been consumed by humans throughout their entire history, as such, they have been part of human culture for thousands of years. They represent a highly nutritive, low-calorie food with good quality proteins, vitamins, minerals and have long been recognized as an important natural source of food and medicine. Mushrooms utilized as food by the Ifugao community in Ifugao Province, Philippines belong to 12 families, 13 genera and 13 species; they were (A) Agaricus sp., (B) Auricularia auricula (Mont.) Sacc., (C) Lenzites elegans (Spreng.) Pat., (D) Trametes elegans (Spreng) Fr., (E) Phellinus sp., (F) Lentinus sajor-caju (Spreng.) Pat., (G) Coprinellus disseminatus (Pers.) J.E. Lange, (H) Schizophyllum commune (Fries), (I) Mycena sp., (J) Oudemensiella canarii (Junghuhn) Hoehne, (K) Vascellum pratense (Pers.) Kreisel, (L) Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm., and (M) Volvariella volvacea (Bull.) Singer. Some of these mushrooms were also utilized as medicine by the indigenous community.
{Photograph courtesy of Ms. Shiena Marie Fermin, Ms. Ellen Joyce Pagoso, Ms. Antoinette Cruz, Mr. Raymark Paul Rigor, Mr. Carlo Miguel and Ms. Anna Boleyn Evangelista of the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120}