Edible mushrooms once called the “food of the gods” and still treated as a garnish or delicacy can be taken regularly as part of the human diet or be treated as healthy food or as functional food. The extractable products from medicinal mushrooms, designed to supplement the human diet not as regular food, but as the enhancement of health and fitness, can be classified into the category of dietary supplements/mushroom nutriceuticals

Edible Mushrooms

Mushroom Body i) Cap (pileus)- Colour

(white, grey, yellow) and shape (umbrella, kidney, cap) depend on species

ii) Stype (stem)- Stype is stem like structure that supports the pileus and transports nutrients from the substrate to other parts of mushroom.

iii) Gills -tissues that produce spores.

iv) Mycelia- absorbs nutrients from substrate

S.No

Type Scientific Name

1 Button Mushroom Agaricus bisporus 2 Moral Mushroom Morchella esculenta3 Wild Mushroom4 Oyster Mushroom Pleaurotus ostreatus 5 Porcini Mushrooms6 Shitake Mushroom Lentinula edodes 7 Portobello Mushrooms 8 Ear Mushroom Auricularia auricula 9 Ganoderma Ganoderma lucidum10. Paddy Straw/Chinese Vulvariella volvaceae11. Truffles Tuber melanosporum

Types of Edible Mushroom

1.Button

1.Button Mushroom The most common type,

white mushrooms range in size from tiny—called button, which are harvested when young and have the mildestflavour—to jumbo, which can be stuffed and baked. Creamy white to pale tan,they have a firm texture and a delicate flavour. White mushrooms are grown all overthe world.

2.Morels

3.Wild Mushrooms

4.Oyster Mushrooms

5.Porcini Mushrooms

Porcini The name porcini means “piglets” in

Italian. They’re also known as the king bolete, cèpe (in French), Steinpilz (the “stone mushroom” inGerman), and a host of other names from all overthe world. The Latin name is Boletus edulis. Porcini mushrooms may grow a rather large cap, up to 12 inches in diameter. It’s usually brown or reddish-brown with a slightly sticky texture. The underside ofthe cap is made up of a spongy material with tiny tubes from which spores are released. They are grown throughoutthe northern hemisphere, but are particularly associated with Italy

6.Shitake Mushrooms

Also known as brown cap mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms have a strong taste and look like a darker version ofthe button mushroom. They have pink to dark brown gills. They are grown all overthe world.

7. Portobello mushrooms Up to 6 inches across,

portobellos have a big, steak-like taste and texture. In fact,the huge, umbrella-like caps are often eaten as vegetarian burger substitutes. Remove the woody stems before eating. The portabello mushroom originated from Italy and gets its namesake from Portobello, a municipality in Italy.

8.The Ear Mushroom Wood Ear mushrooms, so named

because they resemble ears growing out oftrees. Fresh Wood Ear mushrooms are thick and smooth-skinned,though wrinkly. The mushroom’s skin resembles the colour ofthe tree bark itlives on, butitturns darker becoming nearly black the older it gets. Its texture is rubbery and jelly –like and it smells very earthy. It doesn’t have much of its own flavour, but when cooked it absorbs flavour and take on a crunchy texture. Itis widespread throughouttemperate and sub-tropical zones worldwide, and can be found across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa.

9.Ganoderma Mushroom (Reishi)

10.Paddy Mushroom

11.Truffles Mushrooms The French black or

Périgord truffle, Tuber melanosporum, is prized for its aromatic and fruity qualities. When fresh, it has a brown-black exterior with white veins on the inside. It ranges in size from a pea to an orange, and weighs up to 2.2 pounds (1 kg). These truffles are found in the Périgord region of southwestern France

12. Chanterelles

13.Enoki

14. Mitake ( Hen of Woods)

15. Chanterelle mushrooms Chanterelles range in colour

from yellow, orange, and brown to pale white or black. They are prized for having a fruity smell. The funnel-shaped caps have wrinkles instead of gills on the underside, which should be washed quickly but carefully before using. The chanterelle mushroom grows commonly in northern parts of Europe and North America and Mexico. They also grow in the Himalayas and Africa.

17.Pleurotus spp/ Cremini

1.Death Cap (Amanita phalloides)

2.Conocybe filaris

3.Webcaps (Cortinarius species)

4.Autumn Skullcap (Galerina marginata)

5.Destroying Angels (Amanita species)

6.Podostroma cornu-damae

7.Deadly Dapperling (Lepiota brunneoincarnata)

8.False Morels (Gyromitra and Verpa species)

9.The Jack o'Lantern (Omphalotus olearius)

Heating a poisonous mushroom and stirring it with a silver spoon will turn the spoon black. Some believe that the toxins will blacken silver when heated. This myth has been around for a long time with no basis in fact. To date no toxins are known to have this reaction with silver.

Myth

Identification of Poisonous Mushroom

1. Warts or scales on the cap

Note the off colored "patches" on the top of the picture to the right. These are the remnants of the universal veil that surrounds the mushroom when it is young. Sometimes these patches look more like rows of raised dots, as seen on the pictures further down.

Identification of Poisonous Mushroom

The presence of a bulbous cup or sac around the base

This rounded cup is called the "volva" and is another remnant of the universal veil. It is often under the ground so you may have to gently dig up the mushroom to see it. The Amanita muscaria (commonly known as a "toadstool") to the left is a great example of this bulbous base. - See more at: http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/identify-poisonous-mushrooms.html#sthash.fecxqcls.dpuf

Identification of Poisonous Mushroom

The presence of a ring around the stem.

This ring, called the "annulus", is where the partial veil was attached to the stem before it tore apart as the mushroom grew. Check out the white mushroom to the right, you can see this ring quite clearly. - See more at: http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/identify-poisonous-mushrooms.html#sthash.fecxqcls.dpuf

Identification of Poisonous Mushroom