[Medical Q&A] There are some tips for identifying mushrooms. Have you avoided these five common misunderstandings?

Author: Li Haijie, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, North China University of Technology

Reviewer: Yan Shengguang, Professor of School of Public Health, North China University of Technology

Wild mushrooms are popular among people because of their delicious taste, high nutritional value, rich in protein, polysaccharides, beta-carotene, and minerals such as iron, zinc and selenium, as well as their diverse cooking methods. However, it is important to know that some wild mushrooms are poisonous. Mushrooms vary greatly in form. For non-professionals, it is difficult to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible mushrooms in terms of appearance, form, color, etc. There is no simple standard to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible mushrooms.

Here are five common mushroom misconceptions.

Myth 1: Only brightly colored mushrooms are poisonous, and light-colored mushrooms are not. Truth: It is not advisable to judge whether a mushroom is poisonous based on its color alone. Because many species of wild mushrooms such as boletus, russula, and chanterelles are brightly colored, but they are delicious edible mushrooms; the deadly Amanita phalloides dressed in white looks ordinary, but it is highly poisonous.

Myth 2: Mushrooms eaten by insects are not poisonous. Truth: The physiological characteristics of humans and insects are very different. The same mushroom may be "honey to one and poison to another". For example, mature deadly Amanita phalloides are often eaten by insects.

Myth 3: Poisonous mushrooms have a complex appearance, with scales, mucus, stipes and rings. Truth: Many poisonous mushrooms do not have unique morphological features and are plain in color. Ingestion can cause hemolysis and, in severe cases, death due to organ failure.

Myth 4: High temperature cooking, frying, or sun drying can remove the toxins. Truth: The chemical structure of many poisonous mushroom toxins is quite stable, and general cooking methods or sun drying processes cannot remove the toxins.

Myth 5: Mushrooms that grow in the dark, damp or on livestock manure are poisonous, while mushrooms that grow in clean places such as under pine trees are non-toxic. Truth: The toxicity of mushrooms has nothing to do with the growing environment. For example, the delicious Agaricus grows on sheep manure in the grassland, while the highly toxic Amanita phalloides grows mostly in relatively clean forest land.