Pleurotus eryngii

 Scientific classification

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Pleurotaceae

Genus: Pleurotus

General information

Common name(s): king trumpet mushroom, French horn mushroom, king oyster mushroom, boletus of the steppes,trumpet royale

Edibility: Edible

Distribution: This species can be found throughout southern Europe, North Africa, central Asia and the southern of former Soviet Union.

Description

Pleurotus eryngii's cap has a convex shape that expands and becomes funnel-shaped when mature and it can grow up to 12 cm in diameter. It's magin is typically inrolled and extends with maturity. Its central, thick, tapering downward stem can reach up to 10 cm in length and its gills are fairly distant, thin, grayish and decurrent. This mushroom species usually grows individually or in small groups.

Natural habitat

This terrestrial species usually grows on Eryngium campestre roots.

Use in medicine:

• chemicals which may stimulate the immune system (in vitro research)

• used to treat Tobacco mosaic virus.

Preparation and Cooking: Stir frying until edges become crispy golden brown. A chewy,

nutty mushroom, this species is far superior to Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius. This mushroom goes well with Italian dishes and especially with lamb, pork and fish.

Sources:

- Stamets, Paul (2000). Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.

-  "Mushroom acidic glycosphingolipid induction of cytokine secretion from murine T cells and proliferation of NK1.1 alpha/beta TCR-double positive cells in vitro", Biochem Biophys Res Commun

Hericium erinaceus

    Scientific classification

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Family: Hericiaceae

Genus: Hericium

General information

Common name(s): Lion's Mane Mushroom, Monkey's Head, Bearded Tooth Mushroom, Hedgehog Mushroom, Satyr's Beard, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, pom pom mushroom, Bearded Tooth Fungus, Yamabushi-take (Japanese for "Mountain-priest mushroom")´

Edibility: Edible

Distribution: This mushroom species can be found in the wild in North America, Europe, China and Japan

Description 

Hericium erinaceus fruiting body is composed of downward, cascading, non-forking spines that can reach up to 40 cm in diameter. Its colour is tipically white tending to brown or yellow, from the top to the bottom, when mature. 

Natural habitat

This mushroom species grows on dying or dead oak, walnut, beech, maple, sycamore and other broad-leaf tree. It's found frequently on logs or stumps.

Use in medicine:

• antioxidant effects
• may regulate blood lipid levels
• may reduce blood glucose levels
• treatment of gastric ulcers and esophageal carcinoma
• possible anti-dementia compounds

Preparation and cooking: Some people describe this mushroom flavour similar to lobster while others say that his flavour is reminiscent of egg-plant. Cut the mushrooms transverse to the spines, into dials, and cook them at high heat in canola (rape seed) oil until the moisture has been reduced and the dials are light golden brown. The addition of a small amount of butter near the end of the cooking cycle brings out the lobster flavor. You can also add garlic, onions and almonds. 

Sources
- Stamets, Paul (2000). Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.
-  "Hypoglycemic effect of extract of Hericium erinaceus". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
-  "Icons of Medicinal Fungi from China." Beijing: Science Press
- "Effect of an exo-polysaccharide from the culture broth of Hericium erinaceus on enhancement of growth and differentiation of rat adrenal nerve cells". Cytotechnology 

Pleurotus citrinopileatus

 Scientific classification

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Pleurotaceae

Genus: Pleurotus

General information

Common name(s): The golden oyster mushroom; tamogitake (Japanese); Ii' mak (Soviet Far East term for elm mushroom)   
                  
Edibility: Edible  

Distribution: Native to the forested, subtropics of China, southern Japan and adjacent regions.

Description
This species can grow up to 5 cm in diameter. Its depressed and convex cap expands to plane when mature and presents us with colours that vary from golden to bright yellow. It has decurrent gills which show through the translucent cap flesh and Its white stem is centrally  attached to the caps. P. citrinopileatus fruiting bodies usually grow in clusters diverging from a single and joined base. Sometimes these clusters can be composed of more than an hundred mushrooms. As strains of this species senesce, the yellow cap color is lost, becoming beige, and fewer mushrooms are produced in each primordial cluster.

Natural habitat: This saprophytic mushroom grows on Asian hardwoods, especially oaks, elm, beech and poplars.

Use in medicine: 

• antihyperglycemic properties
• decreasing blood sugar levels (diabetic rats)
• source of lipid-lowering drugs
• potentially cures pulmonary emphysema

Preparation and Cooking: Mushrooms are better broken into small pieces and stir-fried, at high heat for at least 15-20 minutes.This mushroom is extremely bitter and tangy when lightly cooked, flavor sensations pleasant to few and disdained by most.

Sources:

- Stamets, Paul (2000). Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.

-  "Antihyperlipidemic and Antioxidant Effects of Extracts from Pleurotus citrinopileatus". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Agrocybe aegerita

Scientific classification

 Kingdom: Fungi

 Phylum:  Basidiomycota

 Class: Agaricomycetes

 Order: Agaricales

 Family: Strophariaceae

 Genus: Agrocybe

General information

Common name(s): Chestnut mushroom; Yanagi-matsutake (Japanese); Pioppino (Italian); South Poplar Mushroom; Zhuzhuang-Tiantougu (Chinese).
     
Edibility: Edible

Distribution: Not known to occur in North America outside of the southeastern states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia. Common across southern Europe and in similar climatic zones of the Far East.

Description

Agrocybe aegerita can grow up to 12 inches in diameter. Its cap is convex to hemispheric, expanding to plane when mature, with colours varying from yellowish gray to grayish brown to tan to dingy brown, becoming darker towards the center. It has gray gills at first, which become chocolate brown with spore maturity. It's a very smooth mushroom with a white stem,  adorned with a well developed membranous ring, usually colored brown from spore fall.

Natural Habitat

This saprophytic mushroom grows often in clusters on stumps in the southeastern United States and southern Europe. It prefers hardwoods, especially cottonwoods, willows, poplars, maples, box elders, and  tea-oil trees (in China).

Use in medicine:

• anti-cancer properties;
• hypoglycemic properties;
• antioxidant compounds;
• compounds with inhibitory properties against cyclooxygenase (enzime).

Preparation and Cooking: Finely chopped and stir fried, cooked in a white sauce and poured onto a fish or chicken, or baked in a stuffing, this species imparts a mild but satisfying pork-like flavour.

Sources

 - www.medicalmushrooms.net

 - Stamets, Paul (2000). Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.