Description of the most expensive mushrooms
The most expensive mushrooms in the world are white and black truffles, yarsagumba and matsutake. Their cost is from $ 500 / kg in the most productive year. If it was not possible to collect a good harvest, the price will be from $ 5,000.
Description of the most expensive mushrooms
White truffle
The most expensive mushrooms in the world are white truffles. They are found in Ukraine, Western Europe and China. The main supplier of products is China. The inhabitants of this country have learned to grow them at home. Cultivated specimens are distinguished by low cost, but their quality is significantly inferior to their wild counterpart.
The fruiting bodies look outwardly like an uneven potato tuber with an average diameter of 15-20 cm. The base is slightly tapering. The skin is smooth, off-white, cracks and bumps appear on it as it ages. Weight ranges from 5 g to 1.5 kg. The pulp is dense, with a high dry matter content.
In a young specimen, the flesh is white with a marble tint, dotted with yellow veins that contain spore sacs. In older representatives, the flesh is dark, the veins are brown. White truffle exudes a strong specific smell.
They grow on loose, well-warmed soils with moderate humidity and not abundant herbaceous cover. Mycorrhiza is formed with the roots of birches, aspens, nuts and young conifers. The picking season starts in August. Specially trained animals are used to find the white truffle:
- dogs;
- pigs.
The advantage in choosing an assistant for searching for expensive mushrooms is given to dogs. Puppies are trained at an early age. For these purposes, females are selected and taught to truffle. The pigs are more likely to eat the prey when they find it. It is impossible to find mycelium without a search engine. it is located underground at a depth of 50 cm. Inhabitants of the French provinces of Périgord and Vaucluse practice hunting for flies when collecting truffles. It is based on the fact that some species of flies - truffle flies, lay their eggs in the soil near truffles. Their larvae feed on the tissues of these gourmet-dear mushrooms. Years of flies indicate the presence of tulle.
Black truffle
Black, or Perigord truffles - these are the most expensive mushrooms on the list. The name comes from the area in France - Perigord, where the bulk of this mushroom production grows. They belong to one of the genera of marsupial mushrooms, which includes 30 species.
The mycelium is located underground at a depth of about 50 cm. For a long time it was considered an inedible growth on the rhizome of trees. Description of black truffle:
- fruit body (apothecia) of irregular tuberous shape, diameter up to 9 cm - when pressed, it changes color to rusty-orange;
- the color of the young fruiting body is red-brown, with age it changes to coal-black;
- the surface is in warty growths, which can have up to 6 faces;
- the flesh is dense, firm, colored gray or brown-pink in young representatives and purple-black in old ones;
- in the cut on the pulp, white-red patterns are visible;
- the fruiting body exudes a strong specific aroma;
- the taste is bitter, but pleasant;
- spores of oval-fusiform, chocolate color.
The representative is picky about the soil composition. Grows in deciduous forests. Mycorrhiza forms with oaks and nuts, but is not a parasite, but a symbiotroph. It not only receives nutrition from plants, but is a natural defense against diseases, helps the root system to optimize the process of consuming water, oxygen and mineral components from the soil. The fungus destroys all herbaceous vegetation around the symbiont tree, so there are never weeds near it.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Truffle mycelium usually gives rise to 3-7 fruiting bodies, which are arranged in a circle and form a "nest". When ripe, the soil rises above them, forming tubercles, which serves as an indicator of the presence of mushrooms in a given place for the truffle collector. Every year such "nests" grow and expand. With skillful collection, i.e. preserving the integrity of the mycelium, in these places - truffles, you can harvest in subsequent years. It takes 3-4 months for a truffle to fully develop. Its fruiting bodies are in the highest demand and have a persistent, strong aroma. It is harvested in large quantities in southern France. In addition, it is found in Switzerland and Northern Italy and very rarely in the southern regions of Germany (Baden-Württemberg).
It is localized on calcareous soils that are not oversaturated with minerals. In addition to France, it can be found in Spain and Italy. The black truffle hunting season starts in November and ends in March.
Yarsagumba
The mushroom has healing properties
The next mushrooms from the top list are called yarsagumba. The parasitic representative of the mushroom kingdom has gained popularity not so long ago. In 1993, it was reported that Chinese track and field athletes had broken records in competitions by eating yarsagumba. It grows in the mountainous areas of Nepal and Tibet. Other names: yarchagumba, Himalayan viagra, cordyceps, ghost of Tibet.
Translation of the word "yarsagumba": a plant in summer, an insect in winter.
Spore powder has the ability to penetrate the bodies of caterpillars living in the upper layers of the soil and wet grass. Before the start of the rainy season, spores settle in the bodies of caterpillars, and then begin to actively develop, using the carrier as a food source.
The insect dries up gradually, having time to crawl to the surface of the earth. By the time the melted snow melts, the parasite is already on the soil surface. Having found a healing specimen, it is completely dug out of the ground. Its ground part is represented by a small-sized process, and its underground part is represented by a mycelium, on which the remains of an insect are visible. The product is boiled and added to tea, soup or other dishes.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
The stroma of cordyceps develop from a dense mass of mycelium that fills the host's body - endosclerotia or pseudosclerotia. The size and shape of the stroma depends on the species. Their length in some species can reach 1.5-2.5 mm, while in others - 25-30 cm. The stroma are usually variably colored. Perithecia (the site of spore formation) are formed on the upper part of the stroma, but the leg remains sterile. The bags are cylindrical, very long, their sizes can vary from 80 to 700 microns. Ascospores are filamentous, multicellular, equal in length to the length of the bursa. Mature ascospores, after being ejected from the perithetium, break down into unicellular fragments. Usually, the developmental cycle is characterized by the conidial stage.
The mushroom has healing properties. Increases sexual activity in men and women. Helps get rid of depression. It has a positive effect on the condition of the liver, the musculoskeletal system. They are actively used in the fight against cancerous tumors.
Matsutake
Matsutake are the most expensive mushrooms in Russia. It can be found in Sakhalin. In Japan, this species grows in centuries-old pine forests. The translation of the name is "pine mushroom".The fruiting body is immersed in the ground, a cap rises above the surface, with a diameter of up to 20 cm, the length of the leg is 10 cm.
Outwardly, the mushroom resembles a Sakhalin champignon. It has an interesting taste reminiscent of Retsina wine and a pleasant aroma that combines pine and cinnamon notes. In the East, an expensive product is used to prevent cancer, diabetes, lower cholesterol levels and increase immunity. The fruit body contains potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, folic acid, lecithin. Before eating, the mushroom requires minimal heat treatment, otherwise it will lose all its beneficial properties.
Conclusion
The most expensive mushrooms in the world include four in their list: white and black truffles, matsutake, yarsagumba. All these representatives are distinguished by an interesting flavor combination and a lot of useful properties. The most expensive of these is the black truffle.
