Kilum-Ijim forest is a montane forest in the North West Region of Cameroon. Wild edible mushrooms are mostly consumed by the communities of Kilum-Ijim as substitute of meat to obtain protein, hence the need to evaluate the nutrient and mineral components of the species consumed in these communities. The most eight preferred wild mushroom species from ethnomycological studies are: Polyporus tenuiculus, Termitomyces striatus, Termitomyces macrocarpus, Auricularia polytricha, Laetiporus sulphureus, Termitomyces sp.1, Termitomyces sp.2 and Polyporus dictyopus were identified by ITS gene region. These species were analysed for nutrient and mineral contents using standard protocols. Significant differences in nutrient values were demonstrated among these mushroom species. The study results on dry weight basis range from 43.49 to 64.88 for carbohydrates, 6.60 to 30.69 for crude protein, 7.74 to 14.10 for ash, 2.17-3.22 g for fat and 11.60 to 20.69 g per 100 g for crude fibres with significant differences (P˂ 0.05) between species for each nutrient. The dry matter content ranged from 12.69-17.77 g per 100 g while the total calorie values ranged from 285.16-319.27 Kcal per 100 g. Mineral nutrient analyses also showed that these mushrooms are rich in both macro and micro nutrients. In conclusion, the study revealed that soil inhabiting mushrooms especially the Termitomyces species have nutritional values which can greatly supplement diets especially in rural communities.

Objectives: Mushroom species richness, distribution and substrate specificity are essential considerations for conservation and management of forest ecosystems. In this study in the Kilum-Ijim mountain forest, mushroom species richness, distribution and substrate specificity was evaluated. Methodology and results: Fixed size plot method, opportunistic and downed wood sampling methods according to Mueller et al. (2004) was used for mushroom survey in 2015 in five sites in the Kilum-Ijim forest. The number of species, diversity in each site as well as substrate and morphotypes were recorded and calculated. A total of 393 macrofungi samples were collected. Highest collection (135) was recorded in September while January registered the least (22). Plantlife Sanctuary Oku recorded the highest number of macrofungal (109) while the least (44) was recorded in Anyajua community forest. Macrofungi were found on five varying substrates and ten different morphological forms of macrofungal were recorded. Conclusions and application of findings: Mushrooms species richness differed in the five sites surveyed in the Kilum-Ijim forest. Podoscypha petalodes had the highest number of species across all the five sites followed by Coprinus fissolanatus, Polyporus dictopus, Favolachia calocera and Xylaria sp. The Agaricaceae and Polyporaceae were the most abundant family. Majority of the mushroom species were found on dead wood substrate and few on dung and standing tree substrates. The result on species richness, distribution and substrate specificity of mushrooms widens the knowledge on mycodiversity and substrate relationship which is an important factor for conservation and utilization as well as for the sustainable forest ecosystem management. Also, the result projects the importance of geographic location of substrates on the distribution of mushrooms which is of immense value for conservation. There is variation in the substrate preferred by mushrooms and likely this factor influences the extent of occurrence and nutritional content.

Globally the taro leaf blight (Phytophthora colocasiae) disease causes between 50 to 70% yield loss. Four taro landraces were planted in three agroecological zones of Cameroon; the Western Highlands (Bambui), Mono-Modal Humid Forest (Ekona), and the Bimodal Humid Forest (Nkolbisson) and evaluated for taro blight severity in four successive growing seasons in March and July, 2018 and 2019. Different concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide were applied to control taro blight before and during plant growth. Results showed that, in all the field sites, the disease severity of Phytophthora colocasiae greatly decreased below 1.5 with varying concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide applied at two-week intervals. The control field at Ekona recorded the highest taro blight severity of 7.8. There was no significant difference in taro blight severity (P≤0.05) between landraces treated with the different concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide. Therefore, lower concentrations (0.33% and 0.27%) of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) can be effectively used in the pre and post control of taro blight in the field. All the landraces in the screen house experiments were susceptible to P. colocasiae.   In all the zones, Landrace L2 (red petiole small leaves) was highly resistant to P. colocasiae and should be recommended to farmers for optimum taro production in the three agro-ecological zones and zones with similar characteristics.