- The consumption of mushroom by man probably predates recorded history, and the historical record is an indeed ancient one. The historical records of the intentional cultivation of several important edible mushrooms are shown in Table 1. It is estimated that the first mushroom was cultivated around 600 A.D. This was Auricularia auricula.
- Later, around 800-900A.D. Flammulina velutipes was also cultivated in China. Lentinula edodes is estimated by us to have been cultivated for the first time between 1000-1100A.D. Of the leading mushrooms of today that were cultivated before 1900, Agaricus is the only one that was not first cultivated in China.
- Volvariella volvacea is estimated to have been first cultivated around 1700 and Tremella fuciformis around 1800 in China.
- Historical record of edible mushrooms cultivation:-
| Sl. No. | Species | Date first cultivated | Earliest record | Source |
| 1 | Auricularia auricula | 600 AD | 659 | So Jing (= So Gung) 659 |
| 2 | Flammulina velutipes | 800-900AD | Late T’ang Dynasty (618-907) | Han O (as interpreted by Zhang Shou-Cheng 1981) |
| 3 | Lentinula edodes | 1000-1100 AD | 1313 | Wang Cheng (as interpreted by Zhang Shou-Cheng 1981) |
| 4 | Agaricus bisporus | 1600 AD | 1650 | DeBonnefons (cited by Atkins 1979) |
| 5 | Volvariella volvacea | 1700 AD | 1822 | Yuen Yuen 1822 |
| 6 | Tremella fuciformis | 1800 AD | 1866 | Hupei Fung Hsien Chih 1983) |
| 7 | Pleurotus. sajor-caju | 1974 AD | 1974 | Jandaik 1974 |
| 8 | Pleurotus ostreatus | 1900 AD 1930’s AD |
1910 | Falck (cited by Zadrazil) |
| 9 | Calocybe indica | 1972 | 1974 | Purkasyatha & Chandra (1974) |
