CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

        Production of edible mushrooms in Nigeria is almost at the level of commercialization. However, the practical field application of many laboratory results still leaves much to be desired. Many still depend largely on the mushrooms harvested from the wild.

        In Nigeria, many mushrooms are highly prized, not only as food but also in traditional medicine (Oso, 1977; Alabi, 1990).

        Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) singer is one of the edible mushrooms very common in the southern part of Nigeria (Nicholson, 1989; Oso, 1975; Akpaja et al., 2003). The Ibo people of Nigeria have even devised a peculiar way of tenderizing the usually tough overripe fruit bodies by dressing it, robbing it with edible oil and thereafter wrapping it in leaves. The wrap will then be placed in a fire place. This mushroom is very popular in Nigeria and has been highly recommended for commercialization (Okhuoya, 1997).

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