Traditional knowledge and use of wild mushrooms with biocultural importance in the Mazatec culture in Oaxaca, Mexico, cradle of the ethnomycology

Aim of study: To document for the first-time the biocultural knowledge related to the use, nomenclature, and classification of wild mushrooms by the Mazatec culture, cradle of the ethnomycology. Area of study: Municipality of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón and communities of San José Buena Vista and Agua Ancha, belonging to the state of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Materials and methods: A total of 291 interviews were performed by using numerical ethnomycological methods, during the rainy seasons, between 2017 and 2021. Based on the knowledge of local experts, fungal specimens with biocultural relevance were collected. Socio-demographic information, knowledge of wild mushrooms and their usages, local nomenclature, culinary uses, and transmission of traditional knowledge were documented. Main results: Paradoxically, this is the first ethnomycological study that addresses a complete study of fungi with biocultural importance in the ethnic group where ethnomycology emerged as a discipline. Previous studies related to mushrooms with Mazatec people focused exclusively on entheogenic mushrooms leaving aside paramount issues related to traditional mycological knowledge of the fungal local resources, including their edibility and cultural relevance. All interviewees consumed mushrooms, indicating high levels of mycophilia. Twenty-seven species, all of them having a native Mazatec name, were identified. Species of Pleurotus, Auricularia, Cantharellus, and Daldinia showed the highest cultural value indexes. Research highlights: Ethnomycological knowledge of Mazatec culture is prolific and related to local natural resources cosmovision, beliefs and traditions. Mycological knowledge is currently preserved among Mazatec people and it is still transmitted to new generations despite strong transculturation processes.