An Ethno biological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as Food in Bulgaria

Abstract

Bulgaria, situated in one of the hotspots of European biodiversity-the Balkan Peninsula, and inhabited since pre-historian time, is a good example for ethnobiological studies. The present paper, based on the studies of ethnobotanical and ethnomycological sources currently available combined with author’s field trips and inquires, follows the traditional use of fungi in the national cuisine, and the recent appearance of new, exotic mushrooms and algae and their products in the menu of Bulgarians. It is recorded that their consumption during the last two decades changed food habits of local people. This trend is accelerated by globalization and the increased rate of urbanization in the country.

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Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000413
J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal
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Stoyneva-Gärtner and Uzunov, J Nutr Food Sci 2015, 5:5
http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
*Corresponding author: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Department of Botany, Faculty
of Biology, Soa University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria, Tel: +359887846086;
E-mail: mstoyneva@abv.bg
Received July 28, 2015; Accepted August 20, 2015; Published August 27, 2015
Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance on
Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as Food in Bulgaria.
J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
Copyright: © 2015 Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, et al. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original author and source are credited.
An Ethnobiological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use
of Algae and Fungi as Food in Bulgaria
Stoyneva-Gärtner MP and Uzunov BA
Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Soa University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria
Abstract
Bulgaria, situated in one of the hotspots of European biodiversity-the Balkan Peninsula, and inhabited since
pre-historian time, is a good example for ethnobiological studies. The present paper, based on the studies of
ethnobotanical and ethnomycological sources currently available combined with author’s eld trips and inquires,
follows the traditional use of fungi in the national cuisine, and the recent appearance of new, exotic mushrooms and
algae and their products in the menu of Bulgarians. It is recorded that their consumption during the last two decades
changed food habits of local people. This trend is accelerated by globalization and the increased rate of urbanization
in the country.
Keywords: Wakame; Chinese fungi; Ethnobotany; Ethnomycology;
Green microalgae; Honey; Mushrooms; Nori; Saccharina; Spirulina
Introduction
Ethnobiology can be briey dened as the study of the biocultural
domains that develop in the interaction between human beings and
their surrounding landscape [1]. erefore it covers many facets of our
life on earth and is interested in all aspects of people’s life, especially
on man’s relations or activity contexts with the biota in every form
[2]. Among the both traditional and contemporary subjects of this
science are food and feeding habits, which have been recognized as link
between nature and culture [3]. However, “deeply embedded in local
culture but made portable by technology, food is ... tied to economic
developments and ecology, political policy and religion, taste and
tradition. And, in the modern era, it has been subject to rapid change”
[4]. Indeed food systems are being transformed at an unprecedented
rate as a result of global economic and social changes related with the
mass food production, development of biotechnologies, etc., (e.g. [4-6]
among the many others). Globalization expresses the widening scope,
deepening impact and speeding up of interregional ows and networks
of interaction within all realms of social activity [7]. It is a force that can
neither be halted nor ignored [8] and therefore the relationship between
globalization and nutritional changes is one that is receiving increasing
attention [9]. However, for some regions the recent impact of global
exchange of people and goods on the traditional plant and fungal food
is less documented. is is especially valid for Balkan countries, from
which the knowledge on wild plant and mushroom consumption
is yet more scarcely described in comparison with other European
regions [10]. Nowadays even without special scientic tools is easily to
recognize that there is a strong invasion on the actual food market of
species and their products, traditionally used as food mostly in Asian
region, but almost neglected in Europe and on the Balkans especially.
Such species can be brought together in two main groups: allochtonous
(exotic, alien, non-native incl. introduced) species, only very recently
imported in the region (e.g. mainly seaweeds) and autochtonous
species, overlooked in the traditional kitchen, most probably due to
presence of many other edible ones (e.g. mainly xylotrophic fungi). In
this paper we claim that this situation recently is typical for Bulgaria
and its cultural development. is is especially true for the inhabitants
of the capital and big towns since Bulgaria’s population of 7.4 million
people is predominantly urbanized and mainly concentrated in the
administrative centres [11]. erefore the paper, based on the studies
of ethnographical, ethnobotanical and ethnomycological sources
currently available, follows the recent appearance of exotic mushrooms
and algae and their products in the menu of Bulgarians, known by their
strong cooking traditions, kept alive for many years by passing recipes
from grandparents to parents, children, grandchildren, etc.
Materials and Methods
is study compiles and evaluates the ethnobiological
(ethnobotanical and ethnomycological) data currently available [12-
46]. Fungal names are given according to Index Fungorum [47] and
algal names follow World Listing of Algae: Algaebase [48].
Field studies on the use of algae and fungi were conducted by the
authors in the years 1986-2015 during their scientic eld trips and
student summer practices in the country. Our students were also
inquired and were asked to mention all algal and fungal species and
products, which were used by them or their parents and relatives.
Ethical guidelines draed by the International Society of Ethnobiology
[49] and American Anthropological Association [50] were followed.
e study area covers practically the whole territory of
Bulgaria–111,000 km2. e country occupies a portion of the eastern
Balkan Peninsula (Figure 1) bordering ve countries: Greece and
Turkey to the south, Macedonia and Serbia to the west, and Romania
to the north. e Danube denes the border with Romania, while the
eastern parts of the country reach the Black Sea coast. Plains occupy
about one-third of the territory, while plateaus and hills occupy 41%.
Bulgaria is home to the highest point of the Balkan Peninsula, Musala,
at 2,925 m and its lowest point is sea level. Bulgaria has a temperate
continental climate, which results from its being positioned at the
meeting point of Mediterranean and continental air masses and
the barrier eect of its mountains. Temperature amplitudes vary

Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as
Food in Bulgaria. J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
Page 2 of 6
Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000413
J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal
signicantly in dierent areas: from the lowest recorded -38.3°C to the
highest of 45.2°C. Precipitation averages about 630 mm per year, and
varies from 500 mm in plains to more than 2,500 mm in the mountains.
Continental air masses bring signicant amounts of snowfall during
winter. Due to the interaction of climatic, hydrological, geological and
topographical conditions, Bulgaria is one of the countries with highest
biodiversity in Europe. Most of the plant and animal life is central
European, although representatives of Arctic and alpine species are
present at high altitudes. e population of Bulgaria is 7,245,677 people
according to the 2011 national census. e majority of the population,
or 72.5%, reside in urban areas; approximately one-third part of the
total population is situated in the seven biggest towns (>100,000
inhabitants-Soa, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Russe, Stara Zagora, Pleven)
of the country and only in the capital Soa is concentrated one-sixth
of the total population. Bulgarians are the main ethnic group and
comprise 84.8% of the population [11].
Results
Historical notes on Bulgarian cuisine
e term Bulgarian cuisine includes the main complex of dishes
and compounds represented in the customs of Bulgarian people.
In spite that human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be
traced back to the Paleolithic, this cuisine practically dates back to the
establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 AD [11,34]. en
the food habits and traditional cuisines of racians, Slavs and proto-
Bulgarians merged. In this amalgam is to be seen also the historical
presence of food habits, meals and traditions of the Persians, Greeks and
Romans. According to Vakarelski [30] the written data on Bulgarian
food are quite scarce. Archaeological data show that the main cuisine
compounds in Bulgaria were the traditional for the region vegetables
(cabbage, carrots, beetroot, onion, garlic, etc.), dierent meat (sheep,
goat, pork, beef, poultry, game), cereals (millet, oats, barley, rye, wheat),
as well as some legumes (broad beans, lentils, peas, vetch). e culinary
exchange with the East started as early as 7th century AD, when traders
started bringing herbs and spices to the First Bulgarian Empire from
India and Persia. erefore Bulgarian cuisine shares a number of
dishes with the Middle Eastern Cuisine, and a limited number with the
Indian cuisine as well. In 16-17th centuries the main products and foods
discovered in America appeared in the country and since then started to
play important role in meals preparation (e.g. (kidney) beans, paprika,
tomatoes, potatoes, maize, sunowers, etc.,). Aer the Liberation from
Ottoman rule in 1878, European culture had a strong inuence on the
cultural development of the country, including the food habits and
local cuisine. e strongest impact on it played French, English and
Italian dishes [34]. e Russian inuence was to be felt even before
the Liberation, but it became much stronger aer the Second World
War due to the leading role of Soviet Union. e appearance of many
traditional Russian dishes and spices on Bulgaria table in this period
is clearly seen from the recipes provided in Book for the Housekeeper
from 1956 [20]. More recently, aer the democratic political changes
in 1989, the food habits of Bulgarians entered in a new phase through
intensive exchange of nutritional products available from all over the
world. With few exceptions [e.g. 12,13], most ethnographical and
ethnobiological sources, which contain information related to the
present study, were created aer the Liberation in 1878.
Mushrooms in traditional Bulgarian cuisine
is very brief analytic report on traditional products, spices and
food habits, mentioned in literature on Bulgarian cuisine (since its rst
descriptions by Rakovski [12] till nowadays [45]), clearly shows the
small importance of mushrooms in our dishes. Some general advices
how to choose fungi from natural habitats for cooking (according to
their colour and smell) were provided in the rst ocially published
Bulgarian Cookbook [13]. ese advices, written in a owery language,
recently sound very naive. ey shall not be discussed here in detail
since this book did not reect the real Bulgarian kitchen, but complies
information on meals “as they are prepared in Istanbul” and also on
some European meals.
It has to be noted that in spite of their low number, there exist some
local traditional meals with mushrooms. For example, 37 principle
recipes with them are provided by Sechanov [21] in his specialized
handbook on mushrooms, 27 are in the comprehensive book “Bulgarian
National Cuisine” by Petrov et al. [34], 25-in the Home encyclopedia
“Daily Book for Each House” [29], 21-in the cookbook “What cooks
woman today?” [39], 19-in the “Handbook for a Housekeeper” [20],
8-in the specialized “Cookbook for men” [35] and only one is included
in the book “Bulgarian Table”, oriented towards both traditional and
festivity kitchen [46]. Only one recipe with mushrooms is included
in one of the very popular cookbooks for modern Bulgarian women
in the end of 30’s, which contains descriptions of both national and
foreign meals [15]. e types of dishes in which fungi are used, are
quite dierent-salads, pixels, soups, gruels (messes), sh, meat and
vegetarian dishes (incl. moussaka, gyuvetch), pastries, sauces and
garnishes. With the appearance in 90’s in our lifestyle of microwaves and
freezers, 10 special recipes for cooking of mushrooms with these “new
apparatuses” were given [40]. An interesting fact is that almost all the
above mentioned recipes did not contain the exact vernacular or Latin
fungal name, but only the generalized word “mushrooms”, and in most
cases from recipe details becomes clear that generally representatives of
Agaricus are considered as ingredients. Few exceptions concern recipes
where exactly the fungal names Agaricus and Marasmius oreades are
mentioned in the meals name.
e knowledge on mushroom consumption together with the
increasing interest to such type of food provoked the appearance of
rst Bulgarian handbooks for fungal collection in nature and their
Figure 1: Map of the studied area (after http://balkans360.com/maps/).

Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as
Food in Bulgaria. J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
Page 3 of 6
Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000413
J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal
cultivation [14,16-18,21] in addition to the scientic mycological
studies in the country started by F. Bubák [51], St. Gueorgie [52] &
B. Barsako [53].
Edible mushrooms in Bulgaria
In the second edition of the most comprehensive Bulgarian
handbook on fungi and their collection [21], its author noticed that
village people by practice are able to distinguish some edible and
poisonous species. According to him, these species are ca. 250 from
the total amount of more than 2000 macromycetes, recorded in the
country. Almost the same numbers are provided in the mycological
literature more than half-a-century later [54]: 2072 macromycetes in
total and 200 of them edible. Below are enlisted in alphabetical order
the 10 most popular mushrooms collected by Bulgarian people for
fresh-eating or for drying, freezing or other preservation, combined
according to [12,19,21,29,32,54] and according to our own eld
experience and inquires: Agaricus campestris L., Agaricus sylvaticus
Schaeer, Amanita caesarea (Scop.) Pers., Boletus edulis Bull., Boletus
pinophilus Pilát & Dermek, Cantharellus cibarius Fr., Macrolepiota
procera (Scop.) Singer, Marasmius oreades (Bolton) Fr., Lactarius
deliciosus (L.) Gray and Suillus luteus (L.) Roussel.
Less consumed according to [21,32,44] and our data are the
gasteromycetes like Calvatia gigantea (Batsch) Lloyd, Lycoperdon
perlatum Pers., Bovista spp. and agaricales like Amanita rubescens
Pers., Calocybe gambosa (Fr.) Singer, Coprinus comatus (O.F. Müll.)
Pers., Clitocybe nebularis (Batsch) P. Kumm., Tricholoma portentosum
(Fr.) Quél., Tricholoma terreum (Schae.) P. Kumm and some species
of Russula (e.g. Russula virescens (Schae.) Fr., Russula cyanoxantha
(Schae.) Fr.).
According to the specic advices for preparation of Bulgarian
edible mushrooms given in [22] it is possible to add some more species
to the list of traditionally used fungi. ere as most suitable for drying
were indicated the aromatic mushrooms with tubular hymenophore,
because in drying process they form aromatic substances which dive a
valuable taste of cooked dishes: Boletus edulis Bull., Gyroporus castaneus
(Bull.) Quél., Amanita caesarea (Scop.) Pers., Melanogaster variegatus
(Vittad.) Tul. & C. Tul. and Choiromyces meandriformis Vittad.
Mushrooms with gills, which have acrid milk and also mushrooms
with an unpleasant taste and smell like Lactarius piperatus (L.) Pers.
were precepted for salting, while as suitable for being pickled were
indicated Boletus spp., Suillus luteus (L.) Roussel., Agaricus campestris
L., Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm, Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P.
Kumm., Calocybe gambosa (Fr.) Singer, Albatrellus conuens (Alb. &
Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouzar.
In the period between 60’s and 90’s of the last century increased
the number of national specialized books published on mushroom
collection, identication and cultivation [25,27,28,31-33,36,37,41-44].
New phase in mushroom consumption in Bulgaria
Aer the political and economic changes in the country, in the
beginning of 90s of the last century, an obvious change in the awareness
of mushrooms by Bulgarians could be detected. e deep economic
crisis ultimately provoked the interest of people in mushrooms as type
of nourishing food and in this period some national booklets on edible
fungi appeared on the market [41-44]. In parallel, recipes with them,
provided in modern cook books, became more popular, as well. In
some mountain regions (e.g. Rodopi Mts), the large representatives of
Boletales (and mainly Boletus edulis Bull.) became of great importance
in the means of livelihood of local people because of their export trade
value. is interest of foreign companies also provoked the curiosity
of local people to the fungal nourishing value. With the appearance of
Chinese restaurants in big cities of the country in the beginning of 90s,
Bulgarians started to consume some fungal species, which are typical
for Chinese cuisine - Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) Quél. (jew’s
ear), Auricularia nigricans (Fr.) Birkebak, Looney & Sánchez-García
(Black fungus), Tremella fuciformis Berk. (silver ear or white jelly
mushroom). Among the last is Flammulina velutipes (Curtis) Singer
(winter mushroom, Velvet stem, Velvet foot), which is popular for its
consumption in cold year periods in dierent countries of Central and
Western Europe and is more and more broadly-used in Chinese meals.
ere it is used mostly in its cultivated forms, as cultivars under the
names «Enoki mushroom» or «Enokitake» (Golden needle mushroom
or Lily mushroom). It looks nothing like the wild mushroom, however;
it is pale, long-stemmed, and tiny-capped.
Paradoxally, some of these species are common in Bulgaria
(Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) Quél., Flammulina velutipes
(Curtis) Singer and Tremella spp.) But they never received the
attention of local people. According to our teaching experience, not
only common people, but students-beginners in biology are always
surprised to hear that these fungi are not exotic aliens and could be
easily gathered from our nature. Indicative is also the naming of these
mushrooms in Bulgarian shops and restaurants, and among people as
well, as “Chinese fungi”, or “Chinese mushrooms”. is expression
is used even in cases when the fungus has a vernacular name (e.g.
Auricularia auricula-judae is known in Bulgaria as “Yudino ucho”
(=Juda’s ear), Flammulina velutipes-as “Zimna pripunka” (=Winter
stub mushroom).
Barsako [16] and Sechanov [21] provided explanations on the
organization of fungal cultivation for trues and more than 11 basidial
species: Boletus edulis Bull., Leccinum scabrum (Bull.) Gray, Suillus
grevillei (Klotzsch) Singer, Imleria badia (Fr.) Vizzini, Cantharellus
cibarius Fr., Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm, Entoloma clypeatum
(L.) P. Kumm., Lepiota clypeolaria (Bull.) P. Kumm., Paxillus involutus
(Batsch) Fr., Tricholoma populinum J.E. Lange, Armillaria mellea
(Vahl) P. Kumm. Sechanov [21] strongly recommended for both
industrial and home cultivation especially in Bulgaria to be used
Agaricus campestris L. nevertheless of the popular vision that all
Agaricus representatives are easily cultivated. Since the middle of the
last century as industrially cultivated mushrooms in Bulgaria could be
pointed only the Button mushroom (white and brown) and the Oyster
mushroom (Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach and Pleurotus
ostreatus (Jacq.) P Kumm, respectively). During the last years in some
places in the country starts the cultivation of the Shiitake mushroom
(Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler).
Algae in Bulgarian cuisine
In spite that studies on Bulgarian algae dated more than one
century (starting with Petko [55]) and comprise of more than
200 sources, we could not nd in any of them even a mentioning of
this organismic group as traditional food resources for Bulgarian
population. However, most recently, algae and their compounds
achieved much higher public awareness in the Bulgarian society. One
of the rst events which brought to this change in the food habits of
Bulgarians (as was in the case of so-called “Chinese fungi” mentioned
above), was the appearance of Chinese restaurants and Japanese sushi
restaurants in the country in the early 90’s. Now they are widespread, at
least in the seven biggest towns, where lives one-third of the population
of the country [11] and by years became very popular and commonly
used, rising the interest of people to other Asian kitchens (Korean,

Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as
Food in Bulgaria. J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
Page 4 of 6
Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000413
J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal
Indian, etc.). Another vector for dispersal of exotic food products are:
1) the big chains of supermarkets, which started to promote dierent
kitchens and new commodities and 2) the raising amount of small
shops for peculiar Asian food products. In this way dierent red and
brown seaweeds and their products appeared on our market and
started to become more and more popular. Among them are dierent
species of Pyropia, more popular with its older synonym Porphyra
(mainly Pyropia tenera (Kjellman) N.Kikuchi, M.Miyata, M.S.Hwang
& H.G.Choi and Pyropia yezoensis (Ueda) M.S.Hwang & H.G.Choi,
both commonly named here with its broadly used Japanese and trade
name Nori), Saccharina latissima (Linnaeus) C.E.Lane, C.Mayes,
Druehl G.W.Saunders, et al. (Syn. Laminaria saccharina (Linnaeus)
J.V.Lamouroux, popular with the Bulgarian name Morsko Zele (=Sea
cabbage in English), Undaria pinnatida (Harvey) Suringar, popular
here with its broadly used Japanese and trade name Wakame). Dierent
species of Pyropia (Porphyra) are consumed mainly as ingredients of
sushi or in soups, generally named here “Soup with algae”, Ecklonia
is taken mainly as appetizer and prepared salad (sold spiced in the
supermarkets), while Saccharina is consumed predominately as salad
(separately, or in combination with onion and cucumbers) and as soup
in restaurants.
In spite of the earlier scientic attention paid in Bulgaria to the
nutritional qualities of Spirulina [56] and outdoor cultivation of green
microalgae like Chlorella and Scenedesmus [57-68], only in the last
year started the consumption of blue-green algal “Spirulina shakes”,
served in some modern restaurant chains, situated along the highroads.
For a short period in the beginning of 80’s, in Bulgarian apothekes a
honey named Algomed (med in Bulgarian language means honey),
enriched by green microalgae produced in outdoor cultivation systems
in Bulgarian village Rupite, was sold. In 2013, on the Fest of apiarists
in Bulgarian town Dobrich a linden honey, combined with propolis
and Spirulina extract was presented and achieved a special award [69].
In the last two decades strongly increased the usage of red algal
product agar-agar (recently becoming popular with its Chinese name
kanten) as better jellifying agent in home production of cakes, ice-
cream and jellied dishes (jellied, meat, jellied chicken, etc.) instead of
the more traditional gelatin.
Discussion
Discussing the events and reasons which lead to reported above
changes in algal and fungal consumption of Bulgarian people in the
frame of globalization eects with import of exotic products, undergone
by the country, we have to mention also.
• e modern trend to use more nutritional food (incl. food of
medicinal value) and dierent palette of food supplements.
• e increase of interest to vegetarian type of feeding. Both
develop on the background of constant advertisements of
natural way of life, translating and publishing of cook books of
dierent countries.
Here have to be mentioned also the raised interest of Bulgarians
to gastronomic literature and TV (or Internet) competitions and to
the molecular gastronomy [70]. Important 3rd factor is the increased
possibility for travelling of Bulgarian people due to the better economic
situation in the country and enhanced travelling abroad due to the
entrance of the state in the European Union.
It is really dicult to arrange indubitably the set of factors, which
led to the increased interest and consumption of algal and fungal
species and products in the country. In parallel to the knowledge on
the health benets from them, it has to be noted that they become more
and more fashionable on the modern table and some people try them
for rst time just for such reason. For example, the algal species, enlisted
above, contain essential polyunsaturated fatty acids and are very high
in vitamins, natural minerals and elements, in protein and essential
aminoacids together with peculiar polysaccaharides -phycocolloids
(like alginates) [71-73 among the many others]. erefore they are
broadly advertised as a nutrient-rich food especially benecial for
health and well-being (superfood), but according to our inquires
some people start to consume them just because they came in fashion,
appearing as exotic food in Asian restaurants, and only aerwards
some of them start to check the nutritional values of these miracle
algae. e comparison of available nutrient tables for mushrooms used
in traditional Bulgarian kitchen and newly invented species [74-83]
shows no signicant dierence in percentage representation of their
main compounds and even lesser protein content in some of the newly
consumed species Table 1. erefore it could be stated that the reason
for their consumption lies mainly in their vogue appearance. According
to our own observations, the mentioned exotic algal and fungal species
and their products not only appeared on Bulgarian market, but they
remained on it and their diversity and amounts increase. is inevitably
shows the increased interest in their buying and consumption, at
least by town inhabitants, where the main supermarket chains and
foreign restaurants are situated. It has to be boldly underlined that the
changes in food consumption described in this paper concern only
the appearance of new algal and fungal species on Bulgarian table
as additional, interesting type of food but not as replacement of our
traditional meals.
Fungus name Nutritional Prole (Percentage on 100 g dry
weight)
Agaricus bisporus 25-33% proteins, 9% ber, and 10% ash
Amanita rubescens 18% proteins
Amanita caesarea 15% proteins, 14% fat, and 10% ash
Auricularia auricula-judae 10,6% proteins, 0,2% fat, 65% carbohydrates, 7%
ber, and 5,8% ash
Auricularia nigricans 8-10% proteins, 0,8-1,2% fat, 84-87% carbohydrates,
9-14% ber, and 4-7% ash
Boletus edulis 23-38% proteins, 2-9% fat, 47% carbohydrates, and
1-7% ash
Cantharellus cibarius 15-21% proteins, , 5% fat, 62-64% carbohydratesand
2-13% ash
Coprinus comatus 25-29% proteins, 3% fat, 59% carbohydrates, 3-7%
ber, and 1,18% ash
Flammulina velutipes 17-31% proteins, 1,9-5,8% fat, 3,7% ber, and 7,4%
ash
Lactarius deliciosus 23-27% proteins, 7% fat, 28% carbohydrates, and
6% ash
Lentinula edodes 13-18% proteins, 2-5% fat, 6-15% ber, and 3,5-6,5%
ash
Macrolepiota procera 20% proteins, <4% fat, 69% carbohydrates, 7%
glycoproteins, 7% ber, and 12% ash
Pleurotus ostreatus 10-30% proteins, 2-4,2% fat, 54,4% carbohydrates,
and 6,9% ash
Russula cyanoxantha 17% proteins, 8% fat, and 8% ash
Suillus luteus 20% proteins, 4% fat, 57% carbohydrates, and 6%
ash
Tremella fuciformis 4,6% proteins, 0,2% fat, 1,4% ber, and 0,4% ash
Tricholoma portentosum 45% ber
Tricholoma terreum 15% proteins, 6,6% fat and 50% ber
Table 1: Nutritional proles of some mushrooms consumed in Bulgaria. The table
is compiled according to recently available nutrient table data. For reference details
see the text of the paper.

Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as
Food in Bulgaria. J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413
Page 5 of 6
Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000413
J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN: 2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal
We believe that the facts briey represented above outlined the
general trend for enrichment of the palette of food sources, used till
recently by Bulgarians, due to globalization eects. Taking into account
the stable trend for increasing urbanization of the country population
(e.g. acc. to [11] there is a stable raise from ca. 10% town population in
1887 to 72.5% in recent years), we claim that these changes could take
place only contemporary because of three strong reasons:
• e central situation of the country in the Balkan region, one
of the hotspots of European biodiversity [84], with moderate
climate conditions and rich natural resources, which provide
great diversity of plants and animals as available food sources
in former times, thus preventing Bulgarians from looking
around for food among more neglected groups like algae and
fungi;
• e situation of the country on the shore of the very untypical
sea - the Black Sea with its lack of typical tides and mixo-
mesohaline (brackish) waters where no real marine algal ora
develops [70,85];
• e extremely strong conservatism of Bulgarian characters,
which impedes the easy acceptance of any novelties [86],
especially in food habits.
We believe that this rst ethnobiological evaluation of the changes
in algal and fungal consumption and food habits of Bulgarian people
due to globalization eects may be of interest to scholars and could
be especially useful for further statistical re-evaluating local food niche
markets and avant-garde gastronomic trends.
Acknowledgements
The second author of the paper participates in the Project No BG051
PO001-3.3.06-0045/18.07.2013 in Human Resources Development Operational
Programme, to which thankfulness is due.
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Citation: Stoyneva-Gärtner MP, Uzunov BA (2015) An Ethnobiological Glance
on Globalization Impact on the Traditional Use of Algae and Fungi as Food in
Bulgaria. J Nutr Food Sci 5: 413. doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000413