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Interesting facts about mushrooms that you might not know. Children about edible and poisonous mushrooms with names and descriptions

Porcini(lat. Boletus edulis) is a type of fungus that belongs to the department Basidiomycetes, class Agaricomycetes, order Boletaceae, family Boletaceae, . This is the most colorful representative of the mushroom kingdom. The abbreviated name of the mushroom is simply “white”, some call it boletus. Even inexperienced mushroom pickers easily recognize the “forest celebrity” and fill their baskets with it.

Why is the porcini mushroom called white?

The white mushroom got its name in ancient times, when mushrooms were often dried rather than fried or stewed. The marbled pulp of the porcini mushroom, even after heat treatment and drying, remains perfectly white. People noticed this feature and called the mushroom with a dark cap white. Another version of the name is associated with the contrast of the porcini mushroom with the less tasty and less valuable “black” mushrooms, the flesh of which darkens when cut.

White mushroom - description and photo, characteristics and properties

hat

All mushrooms of the boletus genus have a strikingly delicate aroma and piquant taste.
The brownish-brown cap of a mature porcini mushroom grows on average to 7-30 centimeters in diameter. But in certain latitudes, subject to heavy rains and mild temperature regime Porcini mushrooms with a cap diameter of 50 centimeters also appear.

Determining the age of a mushroom is quite simple: the cap of a young porcini mushroom has an almost artistically designed convex shape, while overripe mushrooms are flatter, sometimes even prostrate in appearance. The surface of the porcini mushroom cap in most cases has a pleasant to the touch, slightly velvety texture; the upper skin is tightly connected to the pulp, so it is difficult to separate from it. In dry and windy weather, the cap becomes covered with a network of small but deep wrinkles or cracks, which leads to damage to the internal pores of the mushroom. In rainy weather, a thin film of mucus can be seen on the top of the cap. The color of the porcini mushroom cap can vary - from reddish-brown to almost milky white. How older mushroom, the darker and denser the cap becomes, and the skin acquires a characteristic roughness.

Pulp

The pulp of a ripe porcini mushroom is dense, juicy and mostly fleshy, attractive white. In old mushrooms, it turns into a fibrous structure, the shade of the pulp acquires a slightly yellow or light beige tone.

Leg

The height of the leg of the porcini mushroom is small, on average reaching 12 centimeters, but you can also meet “tall” representatives, the leg of which reaches 25 centimeters in height. The diameter of the leg is 7 cm, less often – 10 cm. Distinctive feature porcini mushroom is the shape of its stem: it is barrel-shaped or club-shaped, over time in old mushrooms it becomes cylindrical, slightly elongated in the center and thick at the base and cap. Its color varies from white to deep brown, sometimes with dark red spots. There are porcini mushrooms, the colors of the caps and legs of which are almost completely identical. Often, at the base of the cap, the stem has a network of light, thin veins, sometimes almost indistinguishable against the main background of the skin.

Blanket and spore powder

There are no remains of the porcini mushroom’s cover – the base of the stem is perfectly clean.
The spore powder is a juicy olive-brown hue, the spores of porcini mushrooms themselves are shaped like a spindle, their dimensions are amazingly tiny: 15.5 x 5.5 microns. The tubular layer is light, then turns yellow, acquiring an olive green hue.

Where do porcini mushrooms grow?

Porcini mushrooms grow on all continents, with the exception of arid australia And cold Antarctica. It is found throughout Europe, Northern and South America, in Mexico, in the territories of China, Japan and in the northern regions of Mongolia, in North Africa, in the British Isles, in the Caucasus, Kamchatka, Far East, in the middle and southern latitudes Russia. Very often, porcini mushrooms can be found in the northern taiga, in the European part of Russia and in the Far East.

When and in what forests do porcini mushrooms grow?

The growth cycle of porcini mushrooms is very variable and depends on the place of growth. Porcini mushrooms begin to grow in May or June, and end abundant appearance mushroom islands late autumn– in October-November (in warm regions). In the northern regions, the white mushroom grows from June to September, with mass collection beginning in the second half of August. Growth phase white boletus quite long: in only a full week he reaches mature age. Mushrooms grow in families or ring colonies, so meeting even one porcini mushroom in the forest often promises sure success for a mushroom picker.

Porcini mushrooms grow in both coniferous and deciduous or mixed forests under trees such as spruce, pine, oak, birch, hornbeam, fir. Porcini mushrooms can be collected in places covered with moss and lichen, on sandy, sandy loam and loamy soils, but these mushrooms rarely grow on swamp soils and peat bogs. The porcini mushroom loves sunlight, but can also grow in dark areas. The mushroom grows poorly when the soil is waterlogged and daily air temperatures are low. Whites rarely grow in the tundra and forest-tundra, forest-steppe, and in steppe regions whites are not found at all.

Types of porcini mushrooms, names and photos

Among porcini mushrooms, the following varieties are considered the most famous:

Porcini mushroom (net boletus) (lat.Boletus reticulatus )

Edible mushroom. It looks similar in appearance, has a cap of brown or ocher color, sometimes with an orange tint, located on a short cylindrical stem. The mesh on the mushroom stem is white or brown. The cap has a diameter of 6-30 cm. The flesh is white.

The reticulated porcini mushroom is found in beech, oak, hornbeam, and chestnut forests of Europe, North America and Africa, in Transcaucasia. Occurs in June-September, but not too often.

White mushroom dark bronze (copper, hornbeam) (bronze boletus) (lat. boletus aereus)

An edible type of porcini mushroom, it is distinguished by a very dark brown color of the cap and stem - sometimes they are almost black. On the leg there is a mesh, first white, then walnut. The leg has a cylindrical shape. The flesh of the bronze porcini mushroom is white, does not change color when cut, is dense, with a pleasant smell and taste.

The dark bronze porcini mushroom can be found in oak, beech, oak-hornbeam forests from July to October, and is common in western and southern countries Europe, often found in the United States.

White birch mushroom (spike mushroom) (lat. Boletus betulicol a )

A special feature of the species is the very light, almost white color of the cap, which reaches 5-15 cm in diameter. Less commonly, its color has a slightly creamy or light yellow tint. The stem of the mushroom is barrel-shaped, white-brown in color, and has a white mesh in its upper part. When cut, the mushroom does not turn blue; the flesh of the mushroom is white.

It grows exclusively under birch trees and is found throughout its habitat, where there are birch forests and groves, along roads and on the edges. Fruits from June to October singly or in groups. It often grows throughout Russia, as well as in Western Europe.

White pine mushroom (pine mushroom, boletus pine-loving) (lat. Boletus pinophilus)

A type of porcini mushroom with a large, dark-colored cap, sometimes with a purple tint. The cap has a diameter of 6-30 cm. The flesh of the mushroom under the thin skin of the cap has a brownish-red color; in the stem it is white and does not turn blue when cut. The stem of the mushroom is thick, short, white or brown in color, and has a light brown or reddish mesh.

White pine mushroom grows in pine forests on sandy soils and in the mountains, less often in spruce and deciduous forests, found everywhere: in Europe, Central America, Russia (in northern regions European part, in Siberia).

White oak mushroom (lat. Boletus edulis f. quercicola)

A mushroom with a brown cap, but not brownish, but with gray tint, sometimes there are light spots “scattered” on the cap. The pulp of this species is loose and less dense than that of other white varieties.

Oak porcini mushroom can be found in the oak forests of the Caucasus and Primorsky Krai; it is often found in middle lane Russia and its southern territories.

White spruce mushroom (lat. Boletus edulis f. edulis)

The most common type of porcini mushroom. The leg is elongated and has a thickening at the bottom. The mesh reaches a third or half of the leg. The hat has a brown, reddish or chestnut color.

The spruce porcini mushroom grows in fir and spruce forests in Russia and Europe, except Iceland. The white mushroom appears in June and bears fruit until autumn.

Beneficial properties of porcini mushrooms, vitamins and minerals

Due to its high mineral content, porcini mushroom is one of the most popular and healthy mushrooms. What are the benefits of porcini mushroom?

First of all, the pulp of the porcini mushroom contains the optimal amount Selena capable of healing oncological diseases in the early stages.
Ascorbic acid, which is contained in white, is necessary for the normal functioning of all organs.
The aromatic, delicious white pulp contains calcium, vital for the human body iron, and phytohormones, allowing to reduce inflammatory processes in organism.
Riboflavin, which is part of the porcini mushroom, helps normalize work thyroid gland, and also improves hair and nail growth.
B vitamins contained in white have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, energy metabolism, memory and brain function, protect the skin and mucous membranes from infections, are responsible for sound sleep, good mood and appetite.
Lecithin porcini mushroom is beneficial for atherosclerosis and anemia, helps cleanse blood vessels of cholesterol.
The value of porcini mushroom also lies in the presence B-glucan, an antioxidant that protects immune system human and fights fungi, viruses and bacteria.
Ergothioneine as part of porcini mushroom, it stimulates the renewal of body cells, and is also beneficial for the kidneys, liver, eyes, and bone marrow.
The porcini mushroom also perfectly stimulates the secretion of digestive juices.

Porcini mushroom is low-calorie, consists of 90% water, is perfect for drying, it is fried and stewed, and pickled for future use in the winter. The taste of the cooked pulp is unusually soft; immediately after cleaning, it emits an attractive mushroom smell, which only intensifies after heat treatment. The white mushroom has the strongest aroma after proper drying, when the pulp gradually loses moisture.

Any mushroom is quite difficult for human digestion. But it is dried porcini mushrooms that are most accessible for digestion, since in dried form, the human body absorbs up to 80% of porcini mushroom proteins. This is the form of the mushroom that nutritionists recommend.

Harm of porcini mushroom

Porcini mushroom is an edible mushroom, but it can also cause poisoning in several cases:

Porcini mushroom contains chitin, which is difficult for children, pregnant women, and people with diseases to digest. digestive system and kidneys. Even porcini mushroom broth can lead to exacerbations.
Porcini mushrooms, like any other mushrooms, accumulate toxic heavy metals contained in the soil. That is why you need to be careful and under no circumstances collect mushrooms growing within the city or near industrial enterprises, landfills, waste, near highways.
The third reason for feeling unwell when eating porcini mushrooms is the occurrence allergic reaction for fungal spores.
And, of course, poisoning can result from the consumption of poisonous and dangerous double white mushroom, which is called gall mushroom or bitter.

The simplest advice for people who do not understand mushrooms and may confuse a porcini mushroom with a gall mushroom is not to collect mushrooms that turn blue (pink, red) when cut and have a bitter taste!

False porcini mushroom (gall mushroom). How to distinguish a white mushroom from a false one?

Pulp

One of the main differences between porcini mushroom and false gall mushroom is the color of the cut. When cut, the flesh of the gall fungus darkens and becomes pinkish-brown. The pulp of the porcini mushroom does not change color and remains white.

Leg

The gall mushroom has a rather bright mesh-like pattern on its stalk, which the edible porcini mushroom does not have.

Hymenophore

The tubular layer of the false porcini mushroom is pinkish in color, while that of the true porcini mushroom is white or yellow.

Tubular layer of porcini mushroom

Taste

The false white mushroom is bitter, unlike the edible white mushroom. Moreover, the bitter taste of the gall fungus does not change when boiling or frying, but may decrease when pickling due to the addition of vinegar.

Read about the poisonous false porcini mushroom.

False white mushroom

Edible mushrooms (wild and specially cultivated) contain substances characteristic not only of plants, but also of animal tissues. Their quantity and, most importantly, concentration are not constant: they depend on the time of year, weather, and ecology.

In summer, especially hot, with rare rains, but with a sufficient amount of moisture, the concentration of “animal” substances in mushrooms is tens of times higher than in autumn mushrooms. For example, the muscarine toxin content may increase from 1% to 65%. And such an edible mushroom becomes essentially poisonous.

In addition to muscarine, mushroom fruiting bodies contain several other toxic substances: muscaridine, bufotein. The concentration of their ratios can vary widely, and doses of toxins that are harmless for an adult organism become fatal for a child.

But useful substances (phenylalant, histidine, tyrosine, trimethylanine) also acquire dangerous properties when too many of them accumulate.

Biologically active compounds are found in modern mushrooms chemical substances with a pronounced toxic property- choline, neurin, ergotine, cornutine. Poisons found in microdoses that elevated concentrations lethal: oxalic, hydrocyanic, gelvic acids.

Arsenic, magnesium, cobalt, and manganese accumulated in edible mushrooms pose a huge threat to a child’s day. And not only this is dangerous - an unpredictably unexpected combination of several substances...

Toxins and substances included in the composition edible mushrooms, do not threaten adults. And undergoing various transformations in the child’s liver, they acquire deadly properties. True, this takes time - poisoning develops 6-35 hours after a mushroom dinner.

The mushrooms of this season are not at all similar to those that grew in the same forest and in the same clearing last year. The main composition of substances and appearance remained the same, but changed - and necessarily - the ratio and concentration of biologically active and toxic substances.

Poisoning with summer mushrooms is the most severe. In second place in terms of danger are autumn mushrooms.

Digestion takes place in the stomach and intestines. Substances contained in mushrooms are excreted from the body (and with at different speeds) mainly by the kidneys, and only a small amount is eliminated through the intestines. The liver fights against poisons and, as a rule, loses...

Not all toxic mushroom toxins that accumulate in edible mushrooms can be eliminated by boiling, soaking, drying or canning. Even mushrooms processed in this way may not be safe for children.

Mushrooms are a poorly digestible product with big amount sparingly soluble substances. Only a completely healthy adult body with good digestion and healthy liver and kidneys can cope with such food.

In old mushrooms (and in those left for processing another day after collection), breakdown products of protein and fatty substances appear. The resulting poisons cause disturbances in activity nervous system, heart contraction disorder, changes in respiratory and digestive functions.

Mushrooms are a special form of life that combines the characteristics of both plants and animals.

Boletus, King of Mushrooms. It is considered as such due to its healthiness, size, taste and nutritional value. It is sometimes called “ceps” because it does not lose color when cooked, as happens with many other mushrooms.

Truffle, the most expensive mushroom. It grows underground and is sought out by dogs and pigs by its smell. Gourmets appreciate these mushrooms for their unusual aroma. The most expensive truffle in the world was sold at auction for $160,000. The average price of black truffle is 50,000 euros per kg.

Veselka, the fastest growing mushroom. In 1 hour it can grow 30 cm!

Dung beetle, the shortest living mushroom. Only a few hours can pass from the appearance of the rudiment of the dung beetle to its complete destruction and transformation into a sticky black mass.

Plasmodium, the most amazing mushroom. He's moving! In fact, this is a cluster of many small mushrooms, similar in appearance to jellyfish or jelly. Within a day, plasmodium can climb from the ground to a stump or branch.

Starweed or earth star, the most unusual looking mushroom. It is formed underground and has two shells. When the outer shell bursts, the mushroom, the spore-bearing part in the thin inner shell, comes to the surface, and fragments of the upper shell form a kind of “star” with 5 - 10 “rays”. The color of this mushroom can be different - yellow, white, pink, and other colors.

Shiitake (Japanese wood mushroom), the most medicinal of mushrooms, is widely used in medicine. Lowers cholesterol, reduces inflammation, heals ulcers, improves immunity and has many other beneficial properties.

Fly agaric, the most beautiful mushroom. Its bright red cap with white “speckles” looks unusually impressive against the background of forest greenery.

Garlic mushroom, Garlic mushroom (Marasmius scorodonius). Synonyms: garlic mushroom, mousseron, onion mushroom, cartilaginous mushroom. Circular insemination is characteristic of garlic mushrooms, due to which their families meet in almost regular circles. They have a distinct garlicky smell.

Pepper mushroom (pepper butterfly - Chalciporus piperatus) The taste is truly peppery, sweetish-hot. It’s impossible to just fry it and eat it, but adding it to sauces has a completely unusual taste - pepper-mint-mushroom. In Czechoslovakia, this was one of the types of court sauces in the 18th century, with which European guests were greatly surprised.

Mushroom with anise aroma (fragrant talker - Clitocybe odora) The aromatic talker is used only as a seasoning in dried form. The strong anise smell completely overpowers the taste of the mushroom.

Mushroom with a clove aroma (Collybia dryophila) The pulp smells pleasantly of cloves and tastes sweetish. The slightly bitter taste is removed by boiling and then drying - and the powder is pure mushroom clove. The sauce with this mushroom was loved by Pope Pius12.

Mushroom with the smell of mirabelle (gray chanterelle - Craterellus cornukopioides) One of the most exquisite mushroom spices. The mushroom belongs to the chanterelle family and is considered by mushroom gourmets to be the best of the edible mushrooms. The pulp is bitter and smells like mirabelle.

When dried, it is used as a seasoning for meat dishes and sauces. The mushroom has a rather strange ash-gray color, but this does not affect its taste at all - the taste and smell are divine. In the 19th century, served in sauce with a saddle of lamb in Paris, the dish cost about 100 rubles (now about $1,000).

Each mushroom contains approximately 90% water. Therefore, when frying, mushrooms significantly decrease in size, and if you plan to use raw mushrooms(for example, champignons) in a salad, then

The growth rate of the mycelium of edible mushrooms is about 10 cm per year. However, in nature there is a fungus that grows at a speed of 5 mm per minute and dies after two days (maximum - after a week).

Not suitable for everyone. Thus, the Germans consider pink volushkas and russulas, beloved in central Russia, to be poisonous; the French are afraid to eat honey mushrooms and the same russula; Italians believe that boletus is poisonous. Even noble whites came under the suspicion of Europeans: for example, in Switzerland they do not risk collecting them.

Mushroom is medicine. In 1928, Alexander Fleming isolated penicillin from yeast fungi. This discovery literally revolutionized treatment and saved millions of lives. Medicinal properties Other mushrooms also have it: champignons, honey mushrooms, chaga, Japanese shiitake mushroom. There are also completely non-standard ways medicinal use mushrooms: the skin of puffballs can be used instead of adhesive plaster, as its inside contains natural antiseptics.

The nutritional value. Mushrooms contain a lot of protein and carbohydrates, but no cholesterol. In addition, mushrooms are rich in antioxidants and vitamins (B1, B2, D), as well as selenium and potassium.

Mushrooms are suitable for any habitat. They grow on high altitude, have successfully adapted to life in water and survive under conditions of enormous pressure (up to 80,000 atmospheres). Even radiation is not scary for them! In 2002, in Chernobyl, a robot discovered mushrooms that were growing well in an abandoned reactor. But how did they do it? They were helped by melanin, a substance that protects the skin from ultraviolet radiation and radiation.

The fungus can destroy the marble. The pressure inside the growing mushroom reaches 7 atmospheres (about the same in the tire of a huge truck). Such a seemingly delicate cap can penetrate not only wood and asphalt, but also much more durable materials, such as marble. Impressive, isn't it?

Mushroom season is officially considered to be autumn. However, we all year round We encounter mushrooms, not only in the kitchen, but also in life. Even know-it-alls, skeptics and mushroom pickers with many years of experience are often surprised at how diverse and amazing these living creatures are (you can’t even call them plants).

When does mushroom season begin? best time for preparing future delicacies. And everyone is in a hurry to prepare mushrooms for future use: they are dried, pickled, salted and rolled. The properties and benefits are especially obvious during fasting, for example - they are very nutritious and can even replace meat in our diet.