Medicinal Properties of Mediterranean Oyster Mushrooms: Species of Genus Pleurotus (Higher Basidiomycetes)

The term “Mediterranean area,” applied in this chapter, refers to the definition reported in Med-Checklist and particularly to all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea plus Portugal, Bulgaria, the Crimea (Ukraine), and Jordan. The “Mediterranean oyster mushrooms” is a geographically and ecologically well-defined group of Basidiomycetes. The medicinal properties of some widely investigated species such as Pleurotus ostreatus and P. eryngii are recognized worldwide, while in the case of some other Mediterranean Pleurotus taxa, there is still a lack of knowledge. A substantial increase in knowledge about the anticancer and antibacterial properties of the group of Pleurotus species growing as saprophytes on dead roots of plants of family Apiaceae (P. nebrodensis, P. eryngii var. elaeoselini, P. eryngii var. ferulae in particular) has been recorded in recent years, thanks to research carried out at the University of Palermo (Italy). This chapter summarizes the latest research on medicinal oyster mushrooms growing in the Mediterranean environment.