Eat mushrooms, wake up and find yourself "whipped"? !

What? I woke up and found myself as if I had been beaten? ! It turns out that the "culprit" was actually mushrooms. What's going on?

Image source: huidziekten.nl

Mushrooms grow under the stick, what's going on?

Today, let’s talk about shiitake mushrooms!

"Whip" from Shiitake Mushrooms

In recent years, some cases of allergic reactions to uncooked shiitake mushrooms have been reported in China. The strange thing is that all the patients have traces of "whipping" on their bodies! Medically, it is called "shiitake mushroom dermatitis". This disease was first reported by the Japanese in 1977, and cases have appeared in China since 2014. Almost all patients with this disease are adults, with slightly more men than women.

The pathogenesis of shiitake mushroom dermatitis is not yet fully understood. Current studies have shown that shiitake mushroom dermatitis may be a toxic reaction or allergic reaction caused by polysaccharides in shiitake mushrooms, which can be inactivated by high-temperature cooking.

Like being "beaten up" Source: The New England Journal of Medicine

This symptom also varies from person to person. Only in very rare cases, eating raw or slightly cooked shiitake mushrooms may cause shiitake dermatitis, so there are very few cases. Shiitake dermatitis is a self-limiting disease that usually disappears on its own within 1 to 3 weeks, so there is no need to worry too much.

Eating raw shimeji causes hallucinations, eating raw gyro causes swollen mouth, eating raw shiitake mushrooms causes dermatitis... Many examples tell us that it is best not to eat all mushrooms raw. You never know when you will be chosen as a "lucky person" and be "beaten" by mushrooms!

Shiitake mushrooms are dried in the sun and turned into mushroom essence

I won't eat them raw, but I don't know since when, we always feel that the fried mushrooms are not as fragrant as before. I began to wonder if we have eaten too many mushrooms, or if the mushrooms grown nowadays are not the same variety as before?

Until one day, you bought some dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked them and fried them over high heat. When you tasted them carefully, you found that they were full of fragrance and tasted great, even with a hint of childhood flavor.

In fact, experienced people of the older generation know that dried shiitake mushrooms are more fragrant and delicious than fresh ones . Fresh shiitake mushrooms have a light plant fragrance, while dried shiitake mushrooms have a strong and pleasant fragrance. This depends on the volatile flavor substances contained in shiitake mushrooms. Studies have shown that the fragrance of fresh shiitake mushrooms is mainly caused by some alcohol compounds, while the strong fragrance of dried shiitake mushrooms mainly comes from sulfur compounds.

Dried shiitake mushrooms have a pleasant aroma. Source: supplybulkfoods

When shiitake mushrooms lose water, some precursor substances in their bodies will undergo chemical reactions and gradually transform into sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds with strong aroma . Among them, hot air drying has the best effect and the strongest aroma.

Some " mushroom essence " products sold online are mainly made of dried mushroom powder . This is the principle. So when we eat mushrooms daily, we can put them in a ventilated place to dry them when there is plenty of sunshine. The dried mushrooms will be more fragrant. If you have the conditions, you may try this method.

The MSG-like seasoning "Mushroom Essence" in supermarkets, source: Internet

Generally, things that have turned into spirits are very powerful, such as the White Bone Spirit, the Pig Spirit, the Fairy Spirit... After the mushrooms turn into mushroom spirits, they are also quite powerful, and can make people eat two more bowls of rice!

Shiitake mushrooms grow under the stick

China is the first country in the world to cultivate shiitake mushrooms . During the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu Sangong, the Chinese mushroom god, invented the "cutting flower method" to cultivate shiitake mushrooms. In layman's terms, it means cutting a series of cuts on the wood to facilitate the germination and growth of shiitake mushroom spores. In that era when people didn't even know what spores were, this seemingly simple step was such an amazing wisdom.

Shiitake mushrooms growing on wooden stakes, photographed next to a small courtyard in Jilin Province

The cultivation of shiitake mushrooms by cutting flowers requires "cutting trees and cutting flowers in the first year; in the second year, mushrooms begin to emerge; in the third year, mushrooms are in full bloom; in the fourth year, they are in full bloom again; in the fifth year, they are in full bloom again", and a production cycle lasts for five to seven years. Therefore, mushroom farmers at that time had a very hard time. In order to seize the season, they had to do intensive work such as cutting trees and clearing the field during the day, and patrol the mountains all night to prevent theft and beasts at night. Many "old mushroom farmers" were less than ten years old, and they followed their fathers and brothers from winter to spring, and they were separated from their families more often than they were together.

There is an interesting technical point in the chopping method for growing shiitake mushrooms - "jing chún ". "Xùn" means mushrooms, and "jing chún" means hitting the mushrooms. People at that time noticed that some woods would not grow shiitake mushrooms even if the mycelium grew well. It was discovered by chance that if you hit the mushroom wood with a wooden board, shiitake mushrooms will grow in large numbers after a few days.

Modern science explains this phenomenon. It turns out that vibration can stimulate the twisting of mycelium to form primordia. This is the same principle as temperature difference stimulating mushroom production and thunder making mushrooms grow.

Mushroom farmers are surprised that the yield has doubled. Source: sankei

The cutting method was still the main method of mushroom cultivation in my country until the 1960s. In the 1980s, Peng Zhaowang, a mushroom farmer in Fujian, invented the sawdust bag method of mushroom cultivation. This technology reduced the loss of trees, was easy to operate, and greatly shortened the cultivation cycle, increased production, and made my country the world's largest mushroom producer.

I can't tell the difference between flower mushrooms, winter mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms

"The most delicious mushroom is the mushroom from Yueluo." As early as the Warring States Period, Lüshi Chunqiu recorded that mushrooms are delicious. When talking about mushrooms, many people first think of their thick caps and juicy meat. However, there is a kind of mushroom whose meat is thicker and more delicious than ordinary mushrooms, which is called " flower mushroom ".

The best of mushrooms - flower mushrooms

Flower mushrooms are named for the patterns on their tops . Many people may think that flower mushrooms are a superior variety of shiitake mushrooms, but this is not the case. Flower mushrooms are actually a special form of shiitake mushrooms that encounter low temperature, dryness and other environmental conditions during their development, which causes the cap to crack and expose the white flesh inside . This is a physical change, not unique to certain shiitake mushroom varieties.

Under natural environmental conditions, flower mushrooms mostly appear in winter from December to March of the following year, and the natural occurrence rate is very low. In the process of artificial cultivation, by controlling the humidity and the temperature difference between day and night, the mushroom cap can be cracked to form flower mushrooms.

In fact, many mushrooms have a "flower" shape, like the King Oyster Mushroom I used to grow. Due to the lack of humidification during the cultivation process, it formed a flower head. Not to mention, the meat of this flower King Oyster Mushroom is thicker and firmer, and tastes crisper.

Flower head oyster mushroom

In addition to flower mushrooms, there are sometimes two other names for shiitake mushrooms on the market, called " winter mushrooms " and " Xiangxin mushrooms ". These two types of shiitake mushrooms are actually physiologically diseased mushrooms caused by improper environmental control during the cultivation process . Winter mushrooms have short stems and thick flesh, and the cap is difficult to open. This is because the shiitake mushrooms are kept below 5℃ for a long time during the growth stage of the mushroom buds, resulting in slow growth and low yields, but it is said that the taste is actually quite good.

Image source of the mushroom: faigorjai

The taste of shiitake mushrooms is not very good. This is because shiitake mushrooms are exposed to a high temperature of over 20℃ for a long time during the cultivation process. Shiitake mushrooms grow and develop rapidly, thus forming this shape with long stems, thin flesh and easy-to-open caps.

The bumpy journey of shiitake mushrooms to find their relatives

Finally, let's talk about what shiitake mushrooms are. It's hard to imagine that humans have been cultivating shiitake mushrooms for nearly a thousand years, but the scientific question of "what are shiitake mushrooms" was not basically solved until the end of the 20th century.

In 1878, shiitake mushrooms got their first scientific name, Agaricus edodes, which is now translated as edible mushrooms. Agaricus refers to the mushroom genus, and edodes means edible. In the nearly 100 years that followed, shiitake mushrooms were given 23 different scientific names, involving 12 genera. Shiitake mushrooms were also classified into the Polyporaceae family, such as the famous Polyporus umbellatus.

Poria cocos found in Changbai Mountain

But when we tear shiitake mushrooms by hand, their flesh is very thick and easy to tear apart; but when you pull on mushrooms like Polyporaceae, it feels like tearing cloth. This indicates the difference between shiitake mushrooms and Polyporaceae mushrooms. Now the scientific community generally believes that shiitake mushrooms belong to the Omphalaceae family .

A. Lentinula edodes, B. New Zealand Lentinula, C. Lentinula. raphanica, D. Brick red Lentinula Image source: Wikipedia

The relatives of shiitake mushrooms in the picture above are basically edible and have been cultivated commercially in some countries. Maybe one day they will become important edible fungi on people’s tables just like shiitake mushrooms.

Sea mushroom

Image source: Huang Zhiyang

There is also a food ingredient in Taitung called " sea mushrooms ", which looks like sliced ​​shiitake mushrooms, but it is not shiitake mushrooms, but the skin of some large cephalopods.

References

[1]Zmitrovich, IV, Kovalenko, AE, 2016. Lentinoid and Polyporoid Fungi, Two Generic Conglomerates Containing Important Medicinal Mushrooms in Molecular Perspective. Int J Med Mushrooms 18, 23–38. [2]https://doi.org/10.1615/IntJMedMushrooms.v18.i1.40

Zeng Dongfang, Luo Xinchang, Yang Xinmei, 1999. A review of the systematic taxonomy of Lentinula edodes. Microbiology Bulletin, 141-142+125. [3] https://doi.org/10.13344/j.microbiol.china.1999.02.019

Ji Xing, 2022. Taxonomy and phylogeny of Polyporaceae in China (PhD). Beijing Forestry University.

[4] Hu Jiajun, Zhang Bo. 2023. Overview of research on the genus Mycorrhizal fungi. Journal of Mycology, 42, 143–159. https://doi.org/10.13346/j.mycosystema.220419

Liu Jigang, 2015. Integrated control of mushroom pests and diseases. Agricultural Knowledge 23–24.

[5] Xia Yan, Wang Chengchen, Zhang Jian, Huang Tianji, He Juan, Bian Yinbing, Xiao Yang, 2024. Research on the growth model of high-quality Lentinula edodes (flower mushroom) fruiting body. Edible and Medicinal Fungi 32, 40–46.

[6] Sun Angyuan, Wang Zhen, Guo Chunfang, Zhang Cui, Chang Xiaoyuan, Wang Lili, Zhang Tingting, Cui Le, Li Wei, Zhang Yanping, Jin Chunlin, Wang Qiang, Li Tienan. 2020. One case of whiplash dermatitis induced by Pleurotus ostreatus, one case of black fungus, and one case of Flammulina velutipes. Chinese Journal of Dermatology, 360–362.

[7] An Jingjing, Wang Chengtao, Liu Guorong, Yang Xuelian, Zhang Xiaoxi, Li Jing. 2012. GC-MS analysis of volatile flavor components of fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms. Food Industry Science and Technology 33, 68–71. https://doi.org/10.13386/j.issn1002-0306.2012.14.008

[8] Li Wen, Yang Yan, Chen Wanchao, Zhang Jinsong, Yu Hailong, Shen Xuexiang, 2018. Effects of different drying methods on sulfur-containing flavor compounds in Lentinula edibleus. Journal of Edible Fungi 25, 71–79. [9] https://doi.org/10.16488/j.cnki.1005-9873.2018.04.012

Yang D, Zhu R, Qi X, Zhou L, Yang X, Peng L, Ren L, Huang S, 2023. Four cases of shiitake mushroom dermatitis and literature review. Bulletin of Dermatology 40, 109–112.

[10] Wang Bei, Han Zhaosheng, Yang Zhijie, Yu Pei, Wang Yadong, Zhou Qi, Chen Fei. 2022. Research progress on flavor characteristics and formation mechanism of sulfur compounds in 6 common foods. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 40, 13–25.

[11] Menolli Jr., N., Sánchez-Ramírez, S., Sánchez-García, M., Wang, C., Patev, S., Ishikawa, NK, Mata, JL, Lenz, AR, Vargas-Isla, R., Liderman, L., Lamb, M., Nuhn, M., Hughes, KW, Xiao, Y., Hibbett, DS, 2022. Global phylogeny of the Shiitake mushroom and related Lentinula species uncovers novel diversity and suggests an origin in the Neotropics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 173, 107494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107494

Planning and production

Source: Bowuzai (ID: bowuzai)

Editor: He Tong

Proofreading: Xu Lai, Lin Lin