Definition of mycology – What it is, Meaning and Concept

It is called mycology to science dedicated to study of mushrooms. A mushroom, meanwhile, is a living being of heterotrophic nutrition whose reproduction is developed through spores.

Mycology focuses on these organisms that live on decaying organic substances, such as parasites or in symbiosis. The origins of this discipline can be traced centuries BC, although the first scientific investigations are much more recent and date back to century XVI.

The study of fungi had several milestones throughout the sixteenth century, which are listed below:

* In the year 1526, the Italian humanist Hermolaus published a classification of fungi that served as a point of reference for future studies. Let us not forget that in the scientific field it is essential to prepare compendia to gather data related;

* at the beginning of the 1st century he was born in ancient Greece Dioscorides Anazarbeo, a pharmacologist, botanist, and physician whose legacy was of great importance to the scientific community. When it comes to mycology, some botanists relied on their work to continue their research. Such was the case of the Italian Pietro Andrea Gregorio Mattioli;

* in the year 1564, the Dutch doctor Hadrianus Junius, developed a description of the Phallus impudicus, a fungus that is found quite frequently on the European and North American continents. Two of its characteristics are its phallic shape and its unpleasant smell;

* the doctor Reiner Solenander described the fungus known as ox tongue, whose scientific name is Hepatic fistulin. Although it is considered native to the United Kingdom, it is also possible to find it in almost the entire European continent and in North America;

* the italian philologist Fabio Colonna, who became interested in medicine and botany when he understood that epilepsy would prevent him from working as a lawyer, provided a detailed illustration of the Clathrus ruber, a saprophytic fungus that goes by the common name red cage. Its body shape is oval and exhibits various intertwining “branches”;

* in 1592, Giovanni Battista della Porta, an Italian researcher and philosopher, stated that the reproduction of fungi was carried out by means of seeds. Other scientists supported his theory, although he was the first to make it public;

* Charles de L’Écluse, one of the most important botanists of the 16th century, ordered a watercolor painting of forty-two species of edible mushrooms. Twenty-two genera, fifty-eight poisonous species of twenty-five genera, and five fungi that had not been shown until then were seen in the image. It is one of the pillars of mycology, which served for its study and developing to future generations.

The mushroom picking What food by the human being it started in prehistory. Several peoples believed that mushrooms were sacred and some even considered them as a food of divinities and monarchs.

The Agaricus bisporus, known as mushroom, is one of the most popular edible mushrooms. They are also highly valued truffles, as the members of a genus of fungi are called. In the field of food, mycology is key since its knowledge they make it possible to distinguish between those species that can be consumed and those that are toxic.

It is important to emphasize that, with the discovery of the disorders and conditions that, in people and animals, causes the interaction with certain fungi or their ingestion, the medical mycology. This branch of the medicine analyzes the incidence of fungi on health, which can range from poisonings to infections.

Mycology, on the other hand, also examines the hallucinogenic mushrooms. These organisms present psychoactive substances that modify the functioning of the central nervous system and can produce hallucinations, among other phenomena.