15 Interesting Facts About Mushrooms
- Mushrooms are not vegetables.
- Mushrooms are fruiting bodies of several fungi species.
- Almost 12,000 species of fungi can be characterized as mushrooms on the planet.
- 200 species of them are edible (for human consumption)
- Some mushrooms contain toxic substances that can turn lethal.
- Mushrooms can be used as food (rich in protein), for medicine, textile production, packaging-building materials, biofuels, and for purifying wastewater.
- Nowadays, mushrooms are cultivated almost everywhere in the world.
- They do not need light to grow.
- Some species can double in size within 24 hours.
- Roman emperors had food tasters to ensure whether a mushroom was safe or not.
- China is the leading mushroom-producing country.
- The most widely consumed and cultivated mushrooms belong to the Agaricus bisporus species.
- Pleurotus or Oyster mushrooms are the second most popular and, together with straw mushrooms, are the easiest to be cultivated.
- Truffles are among the most expensive delicacies in the world.
- Mushroom production skyrocketed after 1997. The mushroom market size continues to grow with an accelerated rhythm, reaching 50.3 billion dollars (51 billion euros) in 2021.
Further reading
Mushrooms: Information, Nutritional value and Health Benefits
References
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/mushrooms/
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00253-004-1569-7
- https://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/utils/getfile/collection/ui_ep/id/31256.pdf?_ga=2.112564876.929777657.1662553863-1080700454.1662553863
- https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mushroom-market
- https://books.google.gr/
- https://southafrica.co.za/types-mushrooms.html
Royse, D. J., Baars, J., & Tan, Q. (2017). Current overview of mushroom production in the world. Edible and medicinal mushrooms: technology and applications, 5-13.
