Description of the gall fungus
False white mushroom, gall mushroom or bitter mushroom, as it was nicknamed for its very specific taste, looks like an edible white mushroom. They can only be distinguished by their taste. It is necessary to know the features of the false mushroom so as not to confuse it with other species.
Description of the gall fungus
Characteristic signs
The gall fungus has its own striking signs. It lives on acidic soils of coniferous and deciduous forests or on rotten wood.
It grows in many regions of Russia: Samara, Volgograd, Ryazan, on the Crimean peninsula.
The lower part of the cap of the fruiting body has a pinkish tint, while in a real boletus it is white or yellowish, gradually turns green. A brown mesh on the leg will help to distinguish a false porcini mushroom. There is a mesh on the boletus leg (mesh and bronze), but it is not so dense. But a real porcini mushroom does not have such a mesh.
In porcini mushrooms, the cap is slightly damp, while in the gall fungus its skin is always dry. The double almost always has a light brown hat, so it is almost indistinguishable from the boletus, for which it is also an inedible double.
If the false porcini mushroom looks like an edible species, then you can lick the pulp at the cut. Bitterness on the tongue will indicate to which species the fruiting body belongs.
The gall fungus is rarely wormy. Insects and animals bypass him. The fleshy and clean false porcini mushroom has a good smell. Fruit bodies are soaked, salted, boiled for a long time, that is, they do everything possible to improve the taste, but this takes a lot of time and effort.
Healing properties
Conditionally edible species, which include false porcini mushrooms, contain many useful trace elements in the pulp. They are widely used for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and medicinal cosmetics. Gorchak is used:
- As a rich source of protein.
- In the diet of patients with diabetes mellitus.
- With symptoms of viral, infectious, tumor and other diseases.
In folk medicine, false white mushroom is used as a choleretic agent. There have been no clinical studies to support this.
The fruiting body contains a powerful anticancer substance that acts on a par with antibiotics used in anticancer therapy. Our ancestors treated malignant neoplasms with a powder made from the bitter pulp of a mushroom. We took it on a pinch several times throughout the day.
A recipe for a healing tincture has reached our times. Take chopped bitter pulp and pour it with vodka in a ratio of 1:10. They insist and, if symptoms of the disease appear, they drink 30 drops 4 times a day. At the same time, they must be washed down with a drink obtained from chaga. Also, dishes are prepared from gorchak. To neutralize the pungent taste, it is soaked in chilled milk for up to 3 days before cooking.
Gorchak in cooking
The mushroom is very bitter
The gall fungus belongs to inedible mushrooms, but they cannot be called poisonous.They were made so by the strong bitterness contained in the pulp and capable of causing poisoning. But there is a technology that makes inedible porcini mushrooms tasty and safe for health. The pulp must be dried, after being chopped into small pieces. After that, soup or other dishes are cooked.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
During heat treatment, the bitterness inherent in the false porcini mushroom increases several times. This is what makes the percentage of food poisoning caused by gall fungus extremely low. However, if the bitterness was accidentally taken for white during the collection and got into conservation, then poisoning is possible. This can happen due to the presence of vinegar and spices, which smooth out the bitter taste of the mushroom. Once in the body, toxic compounds begin to destroy the liver almost immediately. Poisoning is also very dangerous because the first signs may not appear immediately, but after a few weeks or even a month.
Signs of poisoning with gorchak:
- General weakness: after about a day, dizziness and weakness appear, which soon disappears.
- Liver disorders: will begin a few weeks after eating the bitter and normal bile secretion will stop. Against this background, cirrhosis of the liver may develop.
Before using bitterness in food, you should think carefully - after all, we still do not know a lot about the effects of its toxins on the human body. Therefore, in the forest, you need to: carefully study the appearance of the collected mushroom and, in case of doubt, leave it where you found it. And you yourself will be healthier and help nature, because any mushroom, no matter what - edible or poisonous - is an integral part of the cycle of substances in nature.
Contraindications
Gall fungus poisoning is not fatal, but the consequences can still be quite unpleasant. Firstly, even prolonged boiling does not eliminate the specific taste. Secondly, the pulp contains toxins that lead to a malfunction of the gastrointestinal tract, destroy the tissues of the liver and kidneys. There are cases when bitterness caused mild poisoning and severe digestive upset - diarrhea and so on.
For cooking and medicinal (cosmetic) preparations, it is advisable to collect young specimens. Firstly, their taste is not so pungent, and secondly, there are more nutrients. In addition, more toxins accumulate in the "long-livers", and the processes of aging and decomposition begin.
It is important to remember that the use of mustard is contraindicated for people prone to diseases of the digestive tract. It is better for such patients to refuse meals from bitter pulp and eat artificially grown fruit bodies. They have fewer saturated elements that irritate the digestive organs, cause allergic reactions, and so on.
It is undesirable for children to give mushroom dishes up to 10-14 years old. They contain substances that are difficult to digest, such as chitin and others. Not all adults can eat it, let alone children. People with chronic illnesses are better off switching to safer foods.
Conclusion
The gall mushroom - the twin of the edible porcini mushroom grows throughout Russia, it is not poisonous and is eaten only after high-quality processing (note - after high-quality). Otherwise, symptoms of poisoning appear, which does not pose a fatal threat, but causes considerable harm to health.
