Ethnomycological Study of Macrofungi Utilized by Pamona Community Around Lake Poso, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Abstract

This study was conducted around Lake Poso, which is home to several indigenous communities with unique local knowledge about nature. This region encompasses several conservation areas, including Bancea Nature Park, Pamona Nature Reserve, and Wera Nature Park. The community residing in this region include the traditional Pamona community, who are one of the ethnic groups in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the ethnomycology and local knowledge of Pamona indigenous people in relation to utilization of wild macrofungi species for food and medicine around Lake Poso, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The results showed that 21 species of macrofungi were used by the indigenous Pamona community, which served various purposes such as a source of food, medicine, hair growth agent, animal feed mixture, and a lighting tool at night. These species include Schizophyllum commune, Auricularia auricula-judae, Auricularia nigricans, Volvariella volvaceae, Trichaleurina javanica, Termitomyces spp, Tremella sp, Physarum polycephalum, Mycena sp., Pycnoporus sanguineus, Pleurotus ostreatus, Dictyophora indusiata, and Russula sp. Macrofungi species with the highest Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) value were Schizophyllum commune, Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) Quel, Termitomyces eurrhizus (Berk.) Pegler, and Trichaleurina javanica, all of which had a value of 1. Meanwhile, Tremella sp. had the lowest RFC with a value of 0.14. The highest Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) value of 0.97 was found in the use of macrofungi as food. These results confirm the wealth of knowledge and practices within the Pamona comunnity, enabling them to effectively utilize macrofungi species for both food and medicine. These practices help to combat malnutrition and prevent and treat certain diseases in Pamona comunnity around Lake Poso,