Assist. Prof. Dr. Ruqaiba Ali Jijan, a faculty member from the department of food sciences at the college of agricultural engineering sciences, in conjunction with the master’s student Abeer Kazim Jassim and in collaboration with Dr. Ahmed Kareem Abdul Razzaq from the ministry of agriculture, was able to achieve a new scientific achievement recorded on behalf of Iraq in the cultivation of local wild strains of oyster mushrooms of the species (Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus eryngii), that is newly discovered in Iraq at Baghdad Province, which is registered internationally in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to bear the name of Iraq.
The study highlighted the possibility of cultivating wild fungi scattered in the Iraqi environment and adding new strains comparable to their productivity and nutritional properties, foreign breeds of these species, which are imported in hard currency, Pleurotus is one of the world’s second most edible food fungi in terms of production among other fungi and has a high nutritional value due to its high protein content and amino acids necessary for the human body as well as vitamins and mineral elements, as well as its low fat content as well as containing many compounds and enzymes that are highly bioactive so it is a healthy balanced food alternative to meat when following a free diet, in addition to the possibility of producing it using low-cost farming methods based on the available agricultural waste in the country. The rector of the University of Baghdad, Prof. Dr. Munir Hamid al-Saadi, expressed his congratulated this outstanding scientific achievement and dedicated a book of thanks and appreciation to all participants in this quest as a result of their efforts to raise the name of the University in Baghdad and the name of Iraq in global forums.
