Figures released by Bord Bia, the government-supported Irish food and drink, this week indicate that consumers are spending €34 million on mushrooms in retail outlets - an annual increase of 13 per cent for the year ending May 2004.

And Michael Maloney, director of horticulture at the organisation underlines there is room for potential.

"Mushrooms are only purchased on average once a fortnight by each household and 82 per cent of households buy mushrooms, an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year," he said this week.

The Bord Bia findings, released to coincide with its promotion of mushrooms in association with the Irish Mushroom Growers' Association (IMGA), also indicate that more households are buying mushrooms in larger volumes, with the average spend per buyer of €31 per annum.

Mushrooms, low in fat and no cholesterol with a range of key minerals and vitamins such as potassium and vitamin B2, are currently being pushed for their health promoting properties.

An ongoing project run by the Minnesota department of agriculture - Eagle Bluff - claims that studies from Japan suggest that the shiitake species of mushrooms are more nutritious than most mushroom species and may play a role in lowering blood cholesterol. Japan is a key producer of shiitake, and the vegetable has become the country's number one agricultural export with gross sales of a billion dollars per year.