Mico-Logica Alters Our Perception of the Magic of Mushrooms in Oaxaca, Mexico

 When we feel of mushrooms and the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, the initially factor which traditionally comes to thoughts is María Sabina, Huautla de Jiménez and hallucinogenic “magic” mushrooms. But slowly that is all changing as a result of the groundbreaking perform of Josefina Jiménez and Johann Mathieu in mycology, by way of their corporation, Mico-lógica.

Based in penis envy mushroom chocolate of Benito Juárez, located in Oaxaca’s Ixtlán district (more typically recognized as the Sierra Norte, the state’s most important ecotourism area), Mico-lógica’s mission is threefold: to train both Mexicans and visitors to the country in the low-cost cultivation of a range of mushroom species to educate about the medicinal, nutritional and environmental (sustainable) value of mushrooms and to conduct ongoing analysis concerning optimum climatic regions and the diversity of substrata for mushroom culture.

The French-born Mathieu moved to Mexico, and in truth to Huautla de Jiménez, in 2005. “Yes, coming all the way to Mexico from France to pursue my interest in mushrooms appears like a long way to travel,” Mathieu explained in a current interview in Oaxaca. “But there truly wasn’t much of an chance to conduct studies and grow a enterprise in Western Europe,” he continues, “due to the fact reverence for mushrooms had been all but completely eradicated by The Church over the course of centuries and I discovered that Mexico nevertheless maintains a respect and appreciation for the medicinal and nutritional worth of hongos. Mexico is far from mycophobic.”

Huautla de Jiménez is far more than a 5 hour drive from the closest metropolitan center. Accordingly, Mathieu ultimately realized that staying in Huautla, even though holding an historic allure and becoming in a geographic area conducive to working with mushrooms, would hinder his efforts to grow a company and cultivate widespread interest in finding out about fungi. Mathieu became cognizant of the burgeoning reputation of Oaxaca’s ecotourism communities of the Sierra Norte, and indeed the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (regional wild mushroom festival), held annually in Cuahimoloyas.

Mathieu met Josefina Jiménez at the summertime weekend mushroom occasion. Jiménez had moved to Oaxaca from hometown Mexico City in 2002. The two shared equivalent interests Jiménez had studied agronomy, and for close to a decade had been operating with sustainable agriculture projects in rural farming communities in the Huasteca Potosina region of San Luis Potosí, the mountains of Guerrero and the coast of Chiapas. Mathieu and Jiménez became enterprise, and then life partners in Benito Juárez.

Mathieu and Jiménez are concentrating on three mushroom species in their hands-on seminars oyster (seta), shitake and reishi. Their one particular-day workshops are for oyster mushrooms, and two-day clinics for the latter two species of fungus. “With reishi, and to a lesser extent shitake, we’re also teaching a fair bit about the medicinal makes use of of mushrooms, so much more time is required,” says Mathieu, “and with oyster mushrooms it is predominantly [but not exclusively] a course on cultivation.”

Whilst instruction seminars are now only offered in Benito Juárez, Mathieu and Jiménez plan to expand operations to include each the central valleys and coastal regions of Oaxaca. The object is to have a network of producers developing unique mushrooms which are optimally suited for cultivation based on the specific microclimate. There are about 70 sub-species of oyster mushrooms, and thus as a species, the adaptability of the oyster mushroom to different climatic regions is remarkable. “The oyster can be grown in a multitude of unique substrata, and that’s what we’re experimenting with right now,” he elucidates. The oyster mushroom can thrive when grown on products which would otherwise be waste, such as discard from cultivating beans, sugar cane, agave (like the fibrous waste created in mezcal distillation), peas, the widespread river reed known as carriso, sawdust, and the list goes on. Agricultural waste which may otherwise be left to rot or be burned, each and every with adverse environmental implications, can form substrata for mushroom cultivation. It need to be noted, though trite, that mushroom cultivation is a highly sustainable, green business. More than the past quite a few years Mexico has in truth been at the fore in a lot of regions of sustainable industry.

Mathieu exemplifies how mushrooms can serve an arguably even higher environmental excellent:

“They can hold up to thirty thousand instances their mass, obtaining implications for inhibiting erosion. They’ve been utilized to clean up oil spills by means of absorption and hence are an critical automobile for habitat restoration. Research has been completed with mushrooms in the battle against carpenter ant destruction it really is been recommended that the use of fungi has the prospective to completely revamp the pesticide sector in an environmentally friendly way. There are literally hundreds of other eco-friendly applications for mushroom use, and in each and every case the mushroom remains an edible by-item. Take a appear at the Paul Stamets YouTube lecture, six Methods Mushrooms Can Save The Globe.”

Mathieu and Jiménez can normally be found selling their products on weekends in the organic markets in Oaxaca. They are both much more than pleased to talk about the nutritional value of their solutions which range from naturally their fresh mushrooms, but also as preserves, marinated with either chipotle and nopal or jalapeño and cauliflower. The mushroom’s vitamin B12 cannot be located in fruits or vegetables, and accordingly a diet plan which incorporates fungi is exceptionally significant for vegetarians who can’t get B12, most often contained in meats. Mushrooms can conveniently be a substitute for meats, with the advantage that they are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones typically located in industrially processed meat goods.