What kind of fungi are mushrooms?

Mushroom is a very common fungus food with high nutritional value. People like to use mushrooms to make a variety of foods in their daily diet. In addition to their good taste, mushrooms also have the effects of improving immunity, relieving pain and calming the nerves, relieving cough and reducing phlegm, promoting bowel movements and detoxification, and lowering blood pressure. However, there are certain skills in choosing and purchasing mushrooms. Below, I will introduce you to some relevant knowledge about mushrooms!

1. What are mushrooms?

Mushroom (scientific name: Agaricus campestris) is composed of two parts: mycelium and fruiting body. Mycelium is the nutritional organ and fruiting body is the reproductive organ. Mushrooms have up to 36,000 sexes, with mature spores germinating into mycelium. The hyphae are multicellular, with transverse septa, elongated by apical growth, white, slender, wool-like, and gradually become filamentous. The hyphae are connected to form a dense mass called a mycelium. After the mycelium is saprophytic, the dark brown culture medium turns into light brown. The fruiting body of the mushroom looks like an open umbrella when mature. It is composed of the cap, stipe, gills, ring, pseudomycorrhiza and other parts. Most mushrooms can be used as food and medicine, but poisonous mushrooms can cause harm to humans.

2. Nutritional Analysis

1. Improve the body's immunity: The active ingredients of mushrooms can enhance the function of T lymphocytes, thereby improving the body's immunity against various diseases.

2. Analgesia and sedation: A Brazilian study found that a substance extracted from mushrooms has analgesic and sedative effects. It is said that its analgesic effect can replace morphine.

3. Antitussive and phlegm-reducing: Animal experiments have shown that mushroom extract has a significant antitussive and phlegm-reducing effect.

4. Laxative and detoxifying: Mushrooms contain crude fiber, semi-crude fiber and lignin that are difficult for the human body to digest. They can maintain the water balance in the intestines, absorb the remaining cholesterol and sugar, and excrete them out of the body. They are very beneficial for preventing constipation, colon cancer, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, etc.

5. Mushrooms contain tyrosinase, which has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure.

3. Purchase Tips

When buying vegetables, we usually choose beautiful and large fruits and vegetables, and mushrooms are no exception. The best ones are those with short and thick mushroom stalks, the edge of the cap tightly attached to the stalks, and the mushroom body well developed.

When washing, water can easily seep into the mushroom body through the cut of the mushroom stem and affect the quality, so it is best to choose unwashed ones. However, what we often see is bulk products washed with water. If the color is slightly dark yellow, it is normal.

If you see that the color is very white, you can gently rub the surface of the mushroom with your fingers. After 2-3 minutes, the rubbed surface will change color, which means it has not been bleached with chemicals. On the contrary, if there is no color change and it is still white, it is very likely that the bleach was used improperly. At this time, you must not buy it. Bleach is poisonous and cannot be eaten. Some are highly corrosive, and some have little or no obvious decolorization effect or the decolorization is uneven. Ingestion will cause great harm to human health, or even death.