Morphological characterization, nutritional profiling and cultivation of Panus velutinus in India.

Abstract

Panus velutinus is a wood rotting fungus widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of India. It is an edible mushroom with several therapeutic properties. The morphology of the basidioma is highly variable depending on the growing conditions and exhibiting a high degree of polymorphism compared to species of other related genera, e.g. Lentinus and Pleurotus. Panus velutinus is described in detail, illustrated, and compared with its closely related species to avoid inconsistency in its taxonomical identification. The mushroom was successfully cultivated with a 33.3 % biological efficiency on a sawdust based substrate. The proximate composition showed that the fruit bodies contain 14.10 % of protein and 34.65 % of crude fibers. The crude fiber content of P. velutinus was found to be significantly higher than in the majority of the cultivated and wild edible mushrooms. Domestication of this mushroom can be used as a potential source for preparation of dietary supplements and mushroom fortified functional foods.