Today we start with the serials on how to grow various color mushrooms. I am going to the teach the step by step easy methods of the cultivation of various species of mushrooms. If you follow these articles, I assure you that in less than no time, you will be an expect in the knowlegde and cultivation aspects of mushrooms.

Introduction: Mushrooms belong to the kingdom Fungi and can be subcartegorised as Macro fungi ( since they are big enough to be seen with the eyes). Some mushrooms have various colors with spectacular beauty and also edible. Many people like the taste of mushrooms and will like to grow their own mushrooms.They are extremely beneficial to the household and their use fall under these cartegories (a) food,( b) medicine to cure various illnesses (c) for beautification purposes in the house as home improvement measure.

Nutritonal aspects: There are lots of mushrooms which are considered as healthy food, because they have been found to contain large amounts of quality protein, vitamins (B1,B2, and C ) and minerals. Most of these nutritional ingredients are located in the cell walls (made of chitin) of many mushrooms. The chitin is very difficult to be degraded and therefore it is advisable to break up the cell walls during preparation and also to chew the mushrooms thoroughly so as to increase digestibility. The protein content of various mushrooms is rather low - about 3% -4% of the fresh weight of the mushroom. The water content of fresh mushrooms is rather high ( 90%). The dry weight of many mushrooms have protein content rangeing between 19% and 35%. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and the kinds of amino acids that make the proteins in the mushroom determines the quality of the protein in the mushroom. Mushrooms are noted to contain all the essential amino acids for humans and also some of the non-essential amino acids and amides - this is the reason why mushrooms are found to have high quality proteins. The rather low fat content in mushrooms makes it desireable to be consumed as an alternate protein source by many weight watchers. On the basis of dry weight, the fat content averages to 4%. Most of this fat (72%) is unsaturated and therefore very healthy. Saturated fat is usually found in animal tissues and highly hazardous to human health. Vitamins and Minerals are abundant in mushrooms--- vitamins such as thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin, biotin and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) are all represented in the mushrooms. Minerals are in significant quantities in the mushrooms------- phosphorous, sodum, potassium, and some calcium.

This is the first article on the cultivation of multi-color mushrooms and expounds on the nutritional aspects of mushrooms. Do not miss the second serial which will talk about the medicinal aspects!

These mushrooms can be grown indoors to decorate offices and homes.