Ethnomycology of Macrofungi in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey: Identification to Marketing

摘要

Edible natural or cultivated macrofungi (mushrooms) are economically significant in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey. Although they have considerable direct and indirect economic, social, and cultural value, these are to date poorly explored. In this study, edible macrofungi were investigated for their ethnomycological standing from identification to marketing. The method was face-to-face data collection with a semi-structured questionnaire, applied in 6 provinces (Bolu, Duzce, Karabuk, Zonguldak, BartA n, and Kastamonu): 6 provincial centers, 17 counties, and 120 villages from April 2012 to December 2013. Seventy different local markets were visited particularly during mushroom gathering seasons. Four hundred and seventy-five responses from the forest villages provided results identifying the gender, identification of mushrooms, use, and marketing. Thirty-three species in 14 families were used for food (55.4 %), income (43.8 %), or medicine (0.8 %). These were Russulaceae (7), Morchellaceae (5), Agaricaceae (4), Cantharellaceae (3), Tricholomataceae (3), Boletaceae (2), Gomphaceae (2), Amanitaceae (1), Gomphidiaceae (1), Hericiaceae (1), Hydnaceae (1), Lyophyllaceae (1), Marasmiaceae (1), and Pleurotaceae (1). In addition, 169 different Turkish folk names were registered and five marketing channels were identified: three for cultivated mushrooms and two for wild mushrooms. Morels (Kuzu gobegi) were the most expensive among all harvested macrofungi species while Lactarius deliciosus (L.) Gray and L. salmonicolor R. Heim & Leclair (KanlA +/- ca) were the most affordable. The Black Sea region in Turkey, which is very rich in mushroom genetic resources, deserves more intensive ethnomycological study.