by Mark Wach
The mushroom industry meeting calendar seems to fill up quickly, with so
many worthwhile opportunities to meet with fellow scientists and industry
professionals. In August, there is the Symposium on Edible Mushroom in Brazil,
in September the Annual Mushroom Short Course offered by Penn State University
in the USA, in November the Chinese Mushroom Day will again be held in
Zhangzhou and we are all looking forward to Mushroom Week 2016. But this
September, there will be a special meeting honoring a member of our industry,
which I will take time to attend and which I believe is worth mentioning.
Professor S.T. Chang was a key member of the ISMS ExCom for many years,
and is an Honorary Lifetime member of our Society. With the help of such
industry visionaries as Australia’s Mr. Marsh Lawson, Chang opened up China’s
mushroom industry to the world and helped us become acquainted with what we affectionately
still refer to as the “exotic” mushroom, also known as Shiitake and Oyster and
Straw Paddy. The book he co-edited with Dr. Fred Hayes, “The Biology and
Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms” remains a key reference in most mushroom
libraries today.
He promoted the concept, long held in Asian countries, which spoke of the
medicinal value of mushroom, long before we had studied the complex molecules
found in them, such as branched beta glucans, triterpenes and aromatase
inhibitors. Perhaps most importantly, he recognized that mushrooms could be
used as a means of feeding populations that might otherwise struggle to
survive. He traveled the world teaching others that mushrooms were a means by
which communities could convert agricultural wastes using simple technologies,
into higher value products that could create jobs, generate income and feed
families.
Titled the “International Seminar of Dr. S. T. Chang’s Academic Thoughts”,
and hosted by his many colleagues in Shanghai, the meeting has been organized
on the occasion of Chang’s 85th birthday, and celebrates the
achievements of a man who has spent a career integrating mushrooms into the
fiber of our society. The seminar intends to gather some of his colleagues from
around the world, to review, discuss and expand on the areas of mushroom
biology that have been the foundation of his storied career. As an industry we
are indebted to Dr. S. T. Chang, for all that he has done to promote the value
of our industry throughout the world, and I hope you will join me in wishing
him a Happy 85th Birthday.
From Mushroom Business, September
2015 edition 72