When we assume connected with mushrooms and often the southern South america state associated with Oaxaca, the first thing which typically comes to mind is María Sabina, Huautla sobre Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But slowly that’s all changing as some sort of result of the radical work of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu inside mycology, through his or her corporation, Mico-lógica. 
Based in the commune of Benito Juárez, located in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán area (more commonly recognized as the Montana Septentrion, the state’s main ecotourism region), Mico-lógica’s mission is usually threefold: to train equally Mexicans and visitors for you to the country in the cheap cultivation of any selection associated with mushroom types; to train about the healing, health and environmental (sustainable) associated with mushrooms; and to do continuing research regarding most effective damage through climate districts and this diversity associated with substrata for mushroom lifestyle.
The French-born Mathieu moved to Mexico, plus in fact for you to Huautla via Jiménez, inside 2006. “Yes, coming to Mexico from People from france to pursue my interest in mushrooms seems like a long way to travel, micron Mathieu revealed in the modern interview in Oaxaca. “But there really was not a lot of an opportunity to be able to conduct studies and even raise some sort of business inside American Europe, ” he continues, “since reverence to get mushrooms experienced been basically absolutely eradicated by The Chapel over the course regarding centuries; and I learned that Mexico still preserves a respect and gratitude for the medicinal and nutritional benefit involving hongos. Mexico will be not even close to mycophobic. “
Huautla sobre Jiménez is whole lot more than a five hr drive from the closest thing metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu gradually realized that remaining in Huautla, while possessing an ancient allure and being in a new geographic area conducive to be able to operating with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to grow a business and enhance wide-spread interest in finding out about fungi. Mathieu grew to become aware of the strong standing of Oaxaca’s ecotourism areas of the Montana Septentrión, and indeed this Salón Territorial de Hongos Silvestres (regional wild mushroom festival), kept annually in Cuahimoloyas.
Mathieu met Josefina Jiménez at the summertime quick mushroom affair. Jiménez acquired moved to Oaxaca from hometown Mexico Town in 2002. The two discussed similar interests; Jiménez experienced studied agronomy, and to get near a several years had been working together with sustainable agriculture projects within rural farming communities inside the Huasteca Potosina region of San Luis Potosí, the forest of Alborotador and the seacoast involving Chiapas. Mathieu and Jiménez became business, and living partners in Benito Juárez.
Mathieu and Jiménez can be concentrating on three mushroom species in their hands-on training seminars; oyster (seta), shitake together with reishi. Their one-day courses are for oyster mushrooms, and two-day hospitals for the latter two variety of infection. “With reishi, and to a lesser extent shitake, we’re in addition educating a fair little bit concerning the medicinal uses involving mushrooms, so more time is needed, ” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it’s predominantly [but certainly not exclusively] a course on cultivation. inch
Whilst training seminars happen to be now only given throughout Benito Juárez, Mathieu together with Jiménez plan to expand operations to include each often the central valleys and even coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have got a network of makers growing different mushrooms which are optimally suited for nurturing using the particular microclimate. Right now there are in relation to 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, together with thus as a kinds, the adaptability of this oyster mushroom to various climatic regions is impressive. “The oyster can end up being grown in the wide range of different substrata, that is certainly precisely what we’re playing using right now, ” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can certainly thrive when grown about products which would otherwise end up being waste, such since discard through cultivating beans, sugar walking cane, agave (including the fibrous waste made in mezcal distillation), peas, the common river reed known as carriso, sawdust, plus the list goes on. Agricultural waste material which may possibly otherwise be still left for you to rot or turn out to be burnt off, each with undesirable environment benefits, can form substrata for mushroom cultivation. It has to be taken into account, though trite, that mushroom cultivation is a really lasting, green industry. Around the past many years South america has in fact been at the fore around numerous areas of sustainable field.
Mathieu exemplifies just how mushrooms can serve a debatably even greater environment good:
“They can hold up to thirty 1, 000 times their mass, obtaining significance for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been used to help clean up engine oil moisture through absorption and so will be an important vehicle regarding habitat restoration. Research provides already been done with mushrooms in the fight against carpenter ant break down; it’s been suggested that the particular usage of fungi has often the potential to fully update the pesticide field around an environmentally friendly technique. You will discover actually hundreds regarding other eco-friendly applications for mushroom usage, and in each case this mushroom remains an safe to eat by-product. Take some sort of glance at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, a few Ways Mushrooms Can help you This World. “
Mathieu together with Jiménez can often be seen selling their products on trips in the organic markets around Oaxaca. These people both more than prepared to talk about the nutritional value of their very own products which range coming from by natural means their fresh mushrooms, and also as preserves, marinated together with sometimes chipotle and even nopal or maybe jalapeño in addition to cauliflower. The mushroom’s vitamins B12 should not be found within fruits or fresh vegetables, in addition to appropriately a diet which will includes fungi is extremely critical for vegetarians which cannot get B12, nearly all generally contained in meats. Mushrooms can easily be the swap for meats, while using benefit that they are definitely not set with antibiotics and testosterone frequently found in industrially processed meats products.
Mico-lógica also market teas together with extracts made from different mushroom species, each one formulated while either a supplement, or maybe for their medicamentoso components. While neither Mathieu nor Jiménez has the medicinal history to order mycological remedy for really serious conditions, Mathieu’s own research items to often the medicinal usage of mushrooms courting via pre-history, to the present. He / she notes qualities regarding mushrooms which can help to restore the immune system, and therefore the make use of of infection as a go with in the cure of cancer together with HELPS, and their utility inside controlling diabetic and managing high lipid disorders.
“We really should be embracing the natural development of mushrooms, ” Mathieu concludes. “It’s so simple, it involves a minimal investment investment, and this gives significant rewards, both for those ingesting hongos with regard to nutritionary and medical motives, for the producers, perhaps small-scale. magic mushrooms delivered -lógica also sells dried out mushrooms. Yet many of the dry mushrooms sold in Mexico can be imported from China, in addition to are not really organic. It can a new actual shame in many quantities. “
South america and mushrooms have occur a new long way since era of Oaxaca’s María Sabina. With the ongoing hard work of Mathieu, Jiménez and even Mico-lógica, it have to not be longer ahead of the world understands together with embraces the magic of mushrooms within a much broader framework.