James San Antonio; Researcher Studied Shiitake Mushroom

James San Antonio, 75, an expert on mushrooms who helped pave the way for the cultivation of the shiitake mushroom in the United States, died May 16 of a stroke in a hospital in Lanham, Md.

A researcher for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington from 1953 until his retirement in 1988, San Antonio wrote extensively about the physiology of various mushroom crops in journals such as Mycology.

The shiitake mushroom, which had been popular in Japan for centuries, became widely available in the United States in the 1970s after San Antonio’s articles about its physiology and cultivation were circulated among growers. The wide-capped shiitake mushroom, with its meaty flavor, was originally considered a delicacy in the United States but over the last decade or so has enjoyed wider popularity.