The 10th International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products 

March 15-16, 2023

The 10th ICMBMP 2023, the virtual conference aimed to share information on how mushrooms can impact our lives. It was successfully organized as a virtual meeting by the Mushroom Research Centre of Universiti Malaya, and it was jointly organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Universiti Malaya, UM Planetary Health and Malaysian Mushroom Researchers and Growers Association. This conference was honored to have received international support from the World Society for Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Edible Fungi (Shanghai, China), and the Asian Federation of Biotechnology Malaysian Chapter. We thank Professor Dr. Tan Qi, President, Council, WSMBMP and Secretary General Council, WSMBMP, Professor Dr Zhang Jingsong,  for their physical attendance, a much needed and appreciated moral support. They had been a constant part of our organising the conference. 

The theme ‘Mushrooms for Planetary Health ’ was selected for ICMBMP 2023 meeting. It was deemed relevant as we are facing several challenges in maintaining our ecosystems and in particular mitigating climate change outcomes.  Addressing these needs, we can look at nature and how nature and in particular the unseen fungi are contributing to management of these issues with their mycelia the underground network / web of mycelia. Mushrooms are predicted to have huge roles to play in the future health of our planet. They are an important part of soil biodiversity and can help tackle global challenges, including climate change and hunger. 

Not only are selected fungi and in particular the macrofungi, the mushrooms, good food but they may help to mitigate several health issues of humans and the environment.  For example, mushrooms can be grown using agroindustrial waste products. Mushroom cultivation can help to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and the spent mushroom substrate may improve soil health, as the fungi break down organic matter and release plant needed nutrients. Furthermore, the cultivation of mushrooms has the potential to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice via a circular economy concept.

There has been a renewed interest in mushroom research worldwide. Several mushrooms used by  indigenous people have potential to be developed for human health as well as treatment and management of human ailments. Several other mushrooms can mitigate environmental pollution, can be environment friendly biofertilisers and biocontrol agents, can be functional as well as nutrient rich feed for aquaculture and can be made into environment friendly biomaterials.

At ICMBMP 2023, we witnessed participation from 18 countries by 142 participants. We were honored to have a special lecture titled Development of the World Mushroom Industry by Sir Professor Dr ST Chang , father of mushroomology . The scientific themes were supported by 9 keynote and 17 plenary talks from renowned experts in mushroom biology and mushroom products from all around the world. We also received 21 rapid oral and 6 oral presentations from postgraduate students, early and mid-career researchers, as well as post-doctorates.

The conference was blessed to have received sponsorship to conduct the two day conference. We would like to thank our sponsors including Jiangsu Alphay Bio-Technology Co Ltd, Nantong, China and Alphay Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, our Gold sponsor and MMRGA (PPPCM) for sponsoring the awards.

This time around post Covid 19, we joined hands in a virtual meet to highlight how mushrooms are important not only for human health but also for the health of the environment and planet.  The virtual sessions went well with minimal glitches. This was attributed to the supporting institutions and the organising teams and in particular the technical and logistic teams. The organizing teams hope that this new norm of virtual interaction had retained the essence of physical meets and  contributed to spreading the goodness of mushrooms for planetary earth  message.

This two day conference provided a platform to interact and forge research and industrial partnerships to promote  activities that will indicate that mushrooms are a must for our planet. Though the conference is in the new norm post Covid 19, we believe it can be one of the many effective ways to communicate ideas and forge collaborative partnerships to harness the goodness of mushrooms.

The proceedings of ICMBMP10 can be downloaded here, and proceedings of  ICMBMP series are availabe under the resources tab of this website. You may also contact mrcumkl@gmail.com for the proceedings of ICMBMP10.  On the 10th of December 2022, a pre-conference virtual symposium organized: Development of Mushrooms as Sustainable Superfoods of The Future 2022 (DOMASSOF22) was successfully concluded. The symposium was organized by Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam and coorganised / supported by several Institutions both national and international. Proceedings can be assessed at https://insofost.wixsite.com/-domassof22/about-1.