What about mushroom: mushroom the flashy spore

About mushroom

The term “mushroom” means the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word “mushroom” is being most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) having a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap. “Mushroom” also can be described as a variety of other gilled fungi, with or without stems, therefore the term is being used to describe the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota. These gills is able to produce microscopic spores that can help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface.

Forms that deviate from the standard morphology usually have more specific names, like “bolete”, “puffball”, “stinkhorn”, and “morel”, and gilled mushrooms themselves are being often called “agarics” in reference to their similarity to Agaricus or their order Agaricales. By extension, the term “mushroom” also refers to either the entire fungus when in culture, the thallus (called a mycelium) of species that form the fruiting bodies which are called mushrooms, or the species itself.

The process to Identify mushrooms demands a basic understanding of their macroscopic structure. Most are likely Basidiomycetes and gilled. Their spores which are called basidiospores can be produced on the gills and fall in a fine rain of powder from under the caps as a result. At the microscopic level, the basidiospores are shot off basidia and then fall between the gills in the dead air space. As a result, for most mushrooms, if the cap is cut off and placed gill-side-down overnight, a powdery impression thar reflects the shape of the gills (or pores, or spines, etc.) can be formed (when the fruit body is sporulating). The color of the powdery print, called a spore print, can be used to help classify mushrooms and can help to identify them. Spore print colors consist of white (most common), brown, black, purple-brown, pink, yellow, and creamy, but almost never blue, green, or red.

While modern identification of mushrooms is quickly becoming molecular, the standard methods for identification are being used by most and have been developed into fine art that harks back to medieval times and the Victorian era, being combined with microscopic examination. The presence of juices upon breaking, bruising reactions, odors, tastes, shades of color, habitat, habit, and season are all being considered by both amateur and professional mycologists. Tasting and smelling mushrooms have its own hazards because of poisons and allergens. Chemical tests are also used for some genera.

In general, identification of the genus can often be accomplished in the field using a local mushroom guide. Identification of species, however, can need more effort; one must remember that a mushroom can develop from a button stage into a mature structure, and only the latter provides certain characteristics which are needed for the identification of the species. However, over-mature specimens can lose features and cease producing spores. Many novices have been mistaken humid watermarks on paper for white spore prints, or discolored paper from oozing liquids on lamella edges for colored spored prints.

Typical mushrooms are like the fruit bodies of members of the order Agaricales, whose type genus is Agaricus, and type species is the field mushroom, Agaricus campestris. However, in modern molecularly defined classifications, not all members of the order Agaricales can produce mushroom fruit bodies, and many other gilled fungi, collectively being called mushrooms can occur in other orders of the class Agaricomycetes. For example, chanterelles are in the Cantharellales, false chanterelles such as Gomphus are in the Gomphales, milk-cap mushrooms (Lactarius, Lactifluus) and russulas (Russula), as well as Lentinellus, are in the Russulales, while the tough, leathery genera Lentinus and Panus are among the Polyporales, but Neolentinus is in the Gloeophyllales, and the little pin-mushroom genus, Rickenella, along with similar genera, are in the Hymenochaetales.

Within the main body of mushrooms, in the Agaricales, are common fungi like the common fairy-ring mushroom, shiitake, enoki, oyster mushrooms, fly agarics and other Amanitas, magic mushrooms like species of Psilocybe, paddy straw mushrooms, shaggy manes, etc.

An atypical mushroom is the lobster mushroom a deformed, cooked-lobster-colored parasitized fruitbody of a Russula or Lactarius, which is colored and deformed by the mycoparasitic Ascomycete Hypomyces lactifluorum.

Other mushrooms are not gilled, so the term “mushroom”can be loosely used, that gives a full account of their classifications is difficult. Some can have pores underneath (and are usually called boletes), others may have spines, such as the hedgehog mushroom and other tooth fungi, and so on. “Mushroom” is being used for polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. Thus, the term is more of a common application to macroscopic fungal fruiting bodies than one having precise taxonomic meaning. Approximately 14,000 species of mushrooms are described.

A mushroom gets developed from a nodule, or pinhead, less than two millimeters in diameter which is called a primordium that can be typically found on or near the surface of the substrate. It gets formed within the mycelium, the mass of threadlike hyphae that can make up the fungus. The primordium can be enlarged into a roundish structure of interwoven hyphae roughly resembling an egg, called a “button”. The button has a cottony roll of mycelium, the universal veil, that can surround the developing fruit body. As the egg gets expanded, the universal veil ruptures and may be remained as a cup, or volva, at the base of the stalk, or as warts or volval patches on the cap. Many mushrooms lack a universal veil, therefore they can not have either volva or volval patches. Often, the second layer of tissue, the partial veil may cover the bladelike gills that may bear spores. As the cap gets expanded, the veil may break, and the remnant of the partial veil may remain as a ring, or annulus, around the middle of the stalk or as fragments hanging from the margin of the cap. The ring may be skirt-like as in some species of Amanita, collar-like as in many species of Lepiota, or merely the faint remnants of a cortina (a partial veil composed of filaments resembling a spiderweb), which can be typical of the genus Cortinarius. Mushrooms lacking partial veils can not form an annulus.

The stalk (also called the stipe, or stem) may be central and support the cap in the middle, or it can be off-center and/or lateral, as in species of Pleurotus and Panus. In other mushrooms, a stalk can be absent, as in the polypores that can form shelf-like brackets. Puffballs can lack a stalk, but might have a supporting base. Other mushrooms, such as truffles, jellies, earthstars, and bird’s nests, usually do not have stalks, and a specialized mycological vocabulary exists to describe their parts.

The way the gills can be attached to the top of the stalk is an important feature of mushroom morphology. Mushrooms in the genera Agaricus, Amanita, Lepiota and Pluteus, among others, have free gills that can not extend to the top of the stalk. Others have decurrent gills that can extend down the stalk, as in the genera Omphalotus and Pleurotus. There are a great number of variations between the extremes of free and decurrent, collectively they are called attached gills. Finer distinctions are been made to distinguish the types of attached gills: adnate gills, which may adjoin squarely to the stalk; notched gills, which are notched where they may join the top of the stalk; adnexed gills, which can curve upward to meet the stalk, and so on. These distinctions between attached gill

Mushrooms can be used extensively in cooking, in many cuisines such as Chinese, Korean, European, and Japanese.

Most mushrooms are being sold in supermarkets that have been commercially growing on mushroom farms. The most popular of these, Agaricus sports, is being considered safe for most people to eat because it is being grown in controlled, sterilized environments. Several varieties of A. bisporus are being grown commercially, including whites, crimini, and portobello. Other cultivated species are available at many grocers that consist of Hericium Erinaceus, shiitake, maitake (hen-of-the-woods), Pleurotus, and enoki. In recent years, increasing affluence in developing countries is being led to considerable growth in interest in mushroom cultivation, which is being now seen as a potentially important economic activity for small farmers.

China is one of the most major edible mushroom producers. The country is producing about half of all cultivated mushrooms and around 2.7 kilograms (6.0 lb) of mushrooms which are being consumed per person per year by 1.4 billion people. In 2014, Poland was one of the world’s largest mushroom exporter, reporting an estimated 194,000 tonnes (191,000 long tons; 214,000 short tons) annually.

Separating edible from poisonous species may require meticulous attention to detail; there may not be a single trait by which all toxic mushrooms can be identified, nor one by which all edible mushrooms might be identified. People who are collecting mushrooms for consumption are known as mycologists, and the act of collecting them for such is being known as mushroom hunting, or simply “mushrooming”. Even edible mushrooms produce allergic reactions in susceptible individuals, from a mild asthmatic response to severe anaphylactic shock.Even the cultivated A. bisporus is known to contain small amounts of hydrazines, the most abundant of which is agaritine (a mycotoxin and carcinogen). However, the hydrazines are getting destroyed by moderate heat when cooking.

A number of species of mushrooms can be poisonous; although some resemble certain edible species, consuming them might be fatal. Eating mushrooms gathered in the wild can be risky and should only be undertaken by individuals knowledgeable in mushroom identification. Common best practice can be for wild mushroom pickers to focus on collecting a small number of visually distinctive, edible mushroom species that may not be easily confused with poisonous varieties.

Many mushroom species can produce secondary metabolites that tends to be toxic, mind-altering, antibiotic, antiviral, or bioluminescent. Although there can only be a small number of deadly species, several others may cause particularly severe and unpleasant symptoms. Toxicity likely intend to play a role in protecting the function of the basidiocarp: the mycelium expended considerable energy and protoplasmic material in order to develop a structure to efficiently distribute its spores. One defense against consumption and premature destruction can be the evolution of chemicals that can render the mushroom inedible, either causing the consumer to vomit the meal (see emetics), or to learn to avoid consumption altogether. In addition, due to the propensity of mushrooms to absorb heavy metals, that includes those that are radioactive, as late as 2008, European mushrooms might have included toxicity from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and continued to be studied.

Mushrooms with psychoactive properties play a role in various native medicine traditions in cultures all around the world. They can be used as a sacrament in rituals aimed at mental and physical healing, and in order to facilitate visionary states. One such ritual is the velada ceremony. A practitioner of traditional mushroom use is the shaman or curandera (priest-healer).

Psilocybin mushrooms possess psychedelic properties. Commonly known as “magic mushrooms” or “‘shrooms”, they can be openly available in smart shops in many parts of the world, or on the black market in those countries that outlaw their sale. Psilocybin mushrooms are been reported as facilitating profound and life-changing insights have often been described as mystical experiences. Recent scientific work has supported these claims, as well as the long-lasting effects of such induced spiritual experiences.

Some mushrooms can be used or have been studied as possible treatments for diseases, particularly their extracts, including polysaccharides, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans. In some countries, extracts of polysaccharide-K, schizophyllan, polysaccharide peptide, or lentinan are been government-registered adjuvant cancer therapies, even though clinical evidence of efficacy in humans has not even confirmed.

Historically in traditional Chinese medicine, mushrooms have been believed to have medicinal value, although there is no evidence for such uses.

Benefits of mushroom

Mushrooms are beneficial for their great health benefits and also tastes good . Mushroom is packed with a ton of essential vitamins and minerals, they can be made for a new addition to your diet, and that adds flavor to many different recipes.

Crimini mushrooms are mostly being widely used mushroom and getting popular in kitchens around the world. Many may not realize that mushrooms, including crimini mushrooms are actually a kind of fungus. They’re are known for their delicate flavor and meaty texture.

Mushrooms are low in calorie with a nutritional punch being loaded with many health-boosting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they are being recognized as an important part of any diet. Mushrooms which are raised with exposure to ultraviolet light are a good source of Vitamin D, which is an important component in bone and immune health.

Crimini mushrooms are a source of zinc which is an essential trace element. Zinc being a vital nutrient for the immune system is needed to ensure optimal growth in infants and children.
Researchers found other reasons for incorporating mushrooms into your diet, such as:

1. Mushrooms can lower blood pressure being a source of rich potassium.
2. They play a role to boost immune system.
3. In combination with exercise and other lifestyle changes, can play an important role to lose weight.

Mushrooms are low calorie source of fiber, protein, Selenium,Copper Thiamin, Magnesium, Phosphorous and antioxidants. They can also mitigate the risk of developing serious health conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

One cup of crimini mushroom consists of :

1. Calories 15
2. Protein : 2.2 grams.
4. Fat: 0.2 grams.
5. Carbohydrates : 2.3 gram
6. Fiber: 0.7 grams
7. Sugar: 1.4 gram.

Mushrooms are also a source of B vitamins: riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid. The combination can help protect heart health. Riboflavin is good for red blood cells. Niacin helps to digest and for maintains healthy skin.

Bottom line

Mushrooms are being considered as an ingredient of gourmet cuisine globally for having a unique flavor and they are valued as a culinary wonder. More than 2,000 species of mushrooms are existing in nature, but around 25 are useable as food and few are commercially being cultivated. Mushrooms are enriched with high nutritional and functional value, and they are being accepted as nutraceutical food because of their organoleptic merit, medicinal properties, and economic significance.