Question

Economic importance of Fungi?

Answer 1

Fungi have both the useful and harmful effects to the man kind. Some of these effects are as follows.

Useful aspects of fungi are:

1. Yeasts are used in the bakeries for fermenting sugar.
2. Some fungal species like the Ascaris, Morchella, and Clavatia etc are edible which are rich in the protein content.
3. Penicillium sp. Are commonly used for flavoring cheese.
4. The yeast Saccharomyces cervisiae is used for making cake.
5. Several species of fungi are used for the commercial production of organic acids like citric acid, fumaric acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid and Gallic acid.
6. Fungi are useful for the production of chemicals. They are significant source of vitamins, enzymes, glycerol.
7. It helps in the decomposition of organic matter as it acts as the decomposers which enables in the recycling of the nutrients.
8. Some of the funguses are involved in the nitrogen fixation and soil formation. The fungus such as the Rhizopus, Aspergillus etc plays an important role in the soil formation.

Harmful aspects of fungi are:

1. Some of the fungi are pathogenic it causes plant diseases such as the smut, rusts and bung diseases and powdery mildew of wheat, blight and wart disease of potato,blast disease of paddy, rot of sugarcane etc.
2. Some of the fungi cause human diseases such as ring worm, moniliasis of nail etc.
3. The Fungi such as the Rhizopus, Mucor, and Aspergillus etc. spoils the food as it grows on them.
4. Several fungi produce toxins and hallucinogenic substances which serious harm to human beings.
5. Some fungi like the Ganoderma, Polyporus etc brings about the degradation of cellulose and lignin so that it results in the rotting of wood.
6. Some of the fungi like Rhizopus, Aspergillus etc cause the deterioration and damage of leather, rubber, textile etc.