Visiting Big Game Parks in Swaziland, for training the guides on medicinal plant use, we stumbled on these Termitomyces (Makhowa) mushrooms growing on a termite mound in the dense thicket bush, and the guys from Swaziland Big Game Parks went balistic to harvest them (they are relished and eaten quickly by ants once they pop up).
I soon discovered what all the excitement was about -one of tastiest mushrooms I’ve ever tried.
When I asked what was going on when everyone jumped off running for the termite mound, the one guide said something like pick them now and you’ll find out later-:D
While many mushrooms are either inedible and some lethal, others are either potent medicines or very succulent protein rich foods!
These tasty giants were fried in some oil and they tasted something between brinjals and meat with a mild flavour that you just wanted more…
The guides explained one can eat them straight-uncooked, boil them make a tea any which way.
Found this useful page that explains a bit more about these edible king mushrooms
"Termitomyces are a remarkable group of mushrooms which have been able to urvive for 30 million years by forging an intimate relationship with termites. In fact the mushrooms are unable to grow without the help of the termites which actively cultivate them. The termites collect and plant the seed-like fungal spores on comb-like structures in their underground nests and fertilize them with their manure. Although these termites feed on wood, they also receive valuable nutrients by eating the underground “roots” or mycelium of the mushrooms from their “fungal gardens.”http://naturallyzimbabwean.com/2015/08/05/mushrooms-farmed-by-termites-make-tasty-summer-treats/
Funny enough we also found Ganoderma species at the camp- (Bracket fungi) growing on a dead tree. Ganoderma lucidium (Ling Zhi) in Chinese medicine is valuable as an immune booster and contains L-Glutamine that repairs the digestive system after pathogenic attack for instance in people living with HIV it helps heal the digestive system.
Be always 100% sure which mushrooms you are collecting-some look alike and if poisonous can destroy your liver and send you to hospital and even the other side ;D. As an interesting aside in such cases of poisoning you can take milk thistle (silymarin) or Schisandra chinensis extract to help curb the damage to the liver.
For more on Jeans medicinal plant work see here: http://phytoalchemy.co.za/