Wild Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi), Western Ghats hardwood forest
A laccate bracket fungus foraged from hardwood stumps in Kerala's Western Ghats, in the same tribal forest-produce economy documented in regional mushroom ethnobotany surveys.
| Origin | Wayanad / Idukki, Kerala, India |
| Indian subcontinent | Yes |
| Category | Fungi & Functional Mycology |
| Retail price band | Trade/bulk (dried whole fruiting body or extract): INR 6,000–9,000/kg |
| Bulk / trade price band | Premium wild-verified material would sit at or above the top of this band versus cultivated log-grown reishi, which dominates Indian market supply |
| Sourcing status | Dossier researched from public sources — producer contact not yet established |
| Compliance status | Preliminary review complete (see below) — not yet legally verified |
Detailed study
Ganoderma lucidum (the Reishi/Lingzhi species complex) is a reddish, varnished-looking bracket fungus that fruits on the stumps and dead wood of broadleaf hardwoods. A correction from the initial catalogue placeholder: sal (Shorea robusta) is a north and central Indian tree and does not grow in Kerala's Western Ghats, so "sal forest" in the original entry was inaccurate. Kerala's wild Ganoderma is correctly sourced from moist-deciduous hardwood forest — jackfruit, mango and other broadleaf hosts — in districts such as Wayanad and Idukki, fruiting mainly in the June–November monsoon and post-monsoon period, as documented in published tribal wild-mushroom-use surveys from Kerala.
Provenance & producer
Collection is documented among Kerala's forest-dwelling tribal communities as part of a broader wild-mushroom-foraging tradition, gathered under Kerala Forest Department minor forest produce (MFP) rules and typically aggregated through tribal cooperative marketing structures used for other non-timber forest products in the state.
Market & pricing
Indian B2B listings (IndiaMART) show dried Ganoderma/reishi trading around INR 6,000–9,000/kg for whole fruiting body or basic extract grade, with A-grade extract listed as low as INR 6,200/kg from some suppliers — reflecting a market currently dominated by cultivated, log-grown material. Wild-verified, tribally-sourced Kerala material would need its own premium positioning and traceability story to justify pricing above the cultivated-material band.
Compliance & export
Minor forest produce collection by tribal and forest-dwelling communities is protected under the Forest Rights Act 2006 and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. Export of wild-collected material still requires Biological Diversity Act 2002 clearance from the National Biodiversity Authority or State Biodiversity Board. In destination markets, Ganoderma is regulated as a dietary supplement ingredient, with the same novel-food/labelling considerations as other functional mushroom products.
Sources
- Begell House / International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms — wild edible and medicinal mushrooms used by tribes in Kerala
- IJCMAS — Sal forest as a source of wild edible mushrooms (context on Indian sal-forest fungi, used to identify the origin-description error)
Image status
A working reference photograph is in place, captured from a freely-licensed Wikimedia Commons source (File:Ganoderma lucidum 01.jpg). Wikimedia Commons candidate — licence to be re-verified before use; not yet downloaded into this site (see build note). Treat this as a placeholder for marketing purposes: exact licence terms should be re-verified on the Commons file page, and original producer photography is recommended before final trade use.