Dyatlov V.V., doctor of technical sciences, professor
Aksenova N.O., graduate student
Donetsk National University of Economics and Traders
after M. Tugan-Baranovsky
Donetsk, Ukraine

Ukraine has always been famous for large stocks of edible wild mushrooms. Until recently, the demand of the population in these products has been met, mainly due to natural resources. However, after the Chernobyl accident a large part of the country was contaminated with radionuclides, so the area of the collection of mushrooms decreased. From year to year the technological and recreational pressure on forest plantations has been increasing even in relatively clean regions of the country which remain the main gathering places of edible mushrooms. This resulted in a significant decrease in their crop. Because of these reasons, residential consumption of this valuable product has drastically dropped.
Purpose of the article is to analyse the security of the Ukrainian population with edible protein-containing products in comparison with the countries of the world and to propose ways to solve the problem.
The experience of many countries shows that an increase in volume of mushroom crops can only be achieved by the cultivation of mushrooms throughout a year. This will increase the amount of valuable high-protein products, as well as reduce a number of food poisoning cases caused by consumption of wild mushrooms.
Further, shortage of good quality protein in the human diet is one of the most frequent and acute problems of mankind. Ultimately, the problem of global nutrition and nutrition of individual countries is due to global protein deficiency. The average protein deficiency in the world is estimated at 15 million tons [1].
Due to the current environmental situation in European countries, including Ukraine, wild edible mushrooms are unsuitable for general consumption. Despite this mushrooms that are grown in specialized facilities can be considered as organic food. Also, the establishment and rapid development of mushroom production throughout the world provides a solution to the problem of waste disposal from plant and poultry products in the manufacturing process of preparation of the substrate for edible mushrooms. It should be noted that the cultivated mushrooms (champignon, oyster and other species) can (to some extent) to solve the problem of providing the population with high-quality, environmentally friendly fiber-containing plant foods. Since the fruiting bodies of mushrooms are rich in nutrients, and their protein complex contains all essential amino acids.
Mushrooms are also low in energy, which has proven to be one of the most important factors in food products in recent years. Extracts of mushrooms are used in the preparation of anti-cancer pharmaceutical drugs, which improve immunity of human body and are used to remove heavy metals and radionuclides from the body.
In our country the problem of clean protein containing harmless vegetable production is even more acute in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and can be solved in the framework of the state target scientific-industrial «Agriculture Mushroom Development Programme in Ukraine».
At the present time in Ukraine there are about 40 thousand tons of cultivated mushrooms. This figure is 26 times higher than in 2000, but significantly less than in Europe, China and America. However, the growth rate of production of cultivated mushrooms is among the highest in the world. Currently, the consumption of mushrooms and mushroom products in Ukraine is 1,0-1,5 kg/person/year. At the same time, consumption in Europe is 4,5-6,5 kg/person/year [2].
In order to reach the average European consumption standards, Ukraine has to annually produce mushrooms 4 times the existing production level. The market of mushroom production is highly competitive. However, poor structuring of the domestic market mushrooms and the existing volume of domestic production does not satisfy the growing consumer demand or the needs of refiners. Therefore, refiners are forced to use Chinese and Polish mushrooms.
Thus, to ensure that the population of Ukraine can obtain edible protein containing products grown domestically it is imperative to switch to more intensive technology that requires significant technology investment expenditure and increase the number of species or races of cultivated mushrooms (for example, toproduce strains of brown mushrooms).
However, the last two options require the development of normative documents on the production technology and product quality, as well as to conduct promotional activities to stimulate demand.

Literature

1. Дудка І. О. Розробка наукових основ промислового грибівництва та їх практична реалізація в аграрному комплексі України / І. О. Дудка, Н. А. Бісько, О. М. Цизь, В. Т. Білай, Н. Ю. Митропольська // Достижения, проблемы и перспективы культивирования грибов. Современные технологии : материалы междунар. науч.-практ. конф. – Донецк : ООО «Норд Компьютер», 2005. – С. 3-16.
2. Косицкий А. В. Возможности грибоводства в решении проблемы белка / А. В. Косицкий // Лідери АПК ХХІ століття : зб. наук. праць Луганського нац. аграрного ун-ту. – Луганськ, 2003. – С. 232-236.