To understand nature as a whole, human beings have created a structure for the division of living beings. Currently there are six different orders: Archaea (unicellular microorganisms), Bacteria (prokaryotic microorganisms), Protista (unicellular eukaryotes), Plantae, Animalia and the Fungi kingdom, which is formed by fungi.
It was the naturalist and ecologist Robert Whitaker who differentiated for the first time between the kingdom Plantaea and the Fungi and used this word because in Latin it means mushroom (it can also be called the kingdom eumicota). Apart from the classification of these organisms, the science that studies them is mycology.
Fungi are eukaryotic organisms, among which are molds, yeasts, and mushrooms. One of the basic differences between fungi and plants is that the former have cell walls made up of chitin, while plants contain cellulose. Fungi are multicellular organisms that have specific cell chains, hyphal cells.
Fungi have some peculiarities that differentiate them from plants and animals. In this sense, many fungi allow certain plants to live. On the other hand, they favor the conservation of some habitats (for example, forests or steppes). And we must not forget that they do not carry out photosynthesis, since they lack chloroplasts. Interestingly, fungi can develop on cement, paraffin or oil and live as parasites of other living beings.
Mushrooms in history
Historically mushrooms have been "demonized" as some of them are toxic and deadly. In the Middle Ages there were massive poisonings produced by the consumption of rye bread inoculated with the ergot fungus and specialized hospitals were created to care for the sick (the religious of the order of San Antonio took care of them and for this reason they spoke of " San Antonio fever "). However, ergot not only affected humans directly but also crops and livestock (the disease is known as ergotism). In parallel, ergot produces ergotamine, from which lysergic acid is extracted, better known by its acronym LSD (one of the most powerful hallucinogenic drugs).
The phallic forms of some mushrooms also influenced their demonization. The world of mushrooms was associated with poisoning, death, sex and madness.
Mushroom applications
The bad image of mushrooms is part of superstition. In fact, do not forget that some of them are antibiotics by nature (for example, penicillin). In everyday life they are very present in fermented foods such as cheese, as well as in beer or wine.
