Poisonous and Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of India
International journal of medicinal mushrooms January 1, 2006 S. K. Deshmukh, Shilpa A. Verekar, K. Natarajan 10 citations
Mushroom poisoning (mycetism) is caused by toxins that persist even after cooking, with seven main poisoning syndromes described globally. India's diverse ecoclimatic zones, especially the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, host rich fungal diversity, yet only about 1,200 mushroom species from the orders Agaricales, Russulales, and Boletales have been documented—roughly 10% of the world's known mushroom species. Among these, a very small proportion are poisonous or hallucinogenic. Despite newspaper reports of poisonings, only one clinically confirmed case, by Chlorophyllum molybdites, has been recorded in India. The review calls for greater public and clinical awareness, a comprehensive database of poisonous mushrooms, and chemical investigations of Indian species for potential therapeutic uses.