White mushroom beneficial properties, benefits and harms of calories

PorciniWhite mushroom, or boletus, is considered an elite tubular mushroom. On the cut, it has a snow-white pulp, which has a characteristic feature – it does not darken after heat treatment. It is this property that made it possible to call it white. Borovik is also famous for its taste: it has a rich mushroom taste and a delicate aroma with nutty notes.

The appearance of the mushroom does not correspond to its name: its cap is never white, and can have a shade from milky to brown. The younger the mushroom, the lighter its cap. The legs of these mushrooms have a milky, beige or gray mesh surface. They come in different sizes: from small to 7-10 cm in diameter to gigantic – more than 30 cm in diameter. It is believed that the largest porcini mushroom had a cap diameter of about 60 cm, and it weighed up to 11 kg. Such a find was reported by Moscow Radio in 1961.

Looks like

The porcini mushroom has a convex cap with a velvety or smooth surface and a skin that does not separate from the pulp. The stem is cylindrical in shape and has a thickening at the base; on its surface, a thin reticular pattern of light color is determined. Boletus has a pleasant mushroom aroma.

Boletus grow in forests almost everywhere: in Europe, Asia, North and South America, in northern Africa. They prefer coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests with sandy, sandy loam and loamy soils. Depending on which trees the boletus grows next to, its appearance changes. According to the growth halo, there are many varieties of these gifts of the forest. The most common types of boletus are:

Birch

It has a beige cap and grows in birch forests. Often found in forests in Russia.

Reticulate

It has a brown or orange cap and a short cylindrical stem. Grows in beech, oak, hornbeam forests of Europe, in northern Africa.

Bronze (copper, hornbeam)

It has a dark brown cap and the same dark leg, but white flesh. Grows in deciduous forests of North America, southern and western Europe.

Pine

Varieties of boletusIt has a dark, often purple hat. The color of the flesh of this boletus is brown-red. Found in pine forests in northern Europe.

Oak

Has a gray-brown hat with light spots. Grows everywhere in oak forests.

Spruce

It has a long club-shaped leg and a chestnut-colored hat. Grows in spruce and fir forests.

The length of the boletus growing season depends on latitude: in northern latitudes – from June to September, in temperate latitudes – from May to November. Most often, they grow in families, and reach maturity a week after emergence, which is a long cycle for mushrooms.

Before collection, mushroom pickers must carefully study the peculiarities of the color and appearance of the variety of boletus that usually grow in the area of ​​the intended collection.

How to distinguish a real porcini mushroom

Gall mushroomRegardless of the type of porcini mushroom, there are several features that make it possible to distinguish boletus among inedible bile and satanic mushrooms:

  1. The tubular layer of the boletus is only white, milky or light yellow. The dark color of the tubular layer is a sign of inedibility.
  2. The net on the leg of a real boletus is never dark.
  3. The flesh of an edible product of light shades, does not darken at a break or cut, does not change color when pressed and after heat treatment.
  4. If the tubular layer is colored off-white or pinkish, the mesh on the stem is dark brown, and the cap is brown or brown, then this is probably a gall fungus (bitterness). When broken, the pulp often darkens (but not always).
  5. The satanic mushroom has a bright (orange or red) tubular layer and a barrel-shaped stem with a bright red mesh in its middle. On the cut, the pulp changes color from white or yellowish to purple or blue within a few minutes. The smell of such a mushroom is reminiscent of an onion.
  6. When collecting boletus, you cannot rely on their worminess as a sign of edibility!

The main rule of every mushroom picker: I’m not sure – don’t take it!

How to collect

Picking porcini mushroomsTo collect real edible porcini mushrooms, you must adhere to certain rules:

  1. The best time to collect them: warm and humid weather without sudden temperature fluctuations.
  2. It is better to collect boletus in the early morning, then juicy moist mushrooms are stored longer.
  3. You cannot go out to pick mushrooms in dry weather. Dry air “draws” moisture from the pulp and leads to an increase in the concentration of harmful substances in it.
  4. You need to pick mushrooms only in ecologically clean areas: away from industrial zones, highways, railways, landfills, treatment facilities, fields, pastures and livestock farms.
  5. No need to take wormy mushrooms. The waste products left by the worms in the pulp are almost impossible to wash or clean out, so they can be poisoned.
  6. Do not collect large boletus. Large size is a sign of maturity: the older the mushroom, the more toxic substances accumulate in it.

In addition to your own safety, it is necessary to pick mushrooms so as not to harm nature:

  • in order not to damage the mycelium, the find from the mycelium must be twisted or cut off;
  • if the mushroom is wormy or overripe, it should not be thrown on the ground. It would be better to hang it on a small branch with the tubular layer down. So spores will spill out of it onto the soil, and its dried pulp in the cold season can be useful for forest animals for food;
  • poisonous mushrooms cannot be destroyed, since they are an essential part of the forest ecosystem.

When hiking in the forest, the surrounding nature must be protected: the forest is home to a large number of living creatures.

How to procure and store

Dried mushroomsIt is believed that cut boletus retain its beneficial properties for 8-10 hours after harvest. Therefore, it is necessary to clear the crop as soon as possible and start harvesting it. The method for cleaning mushrooms depends on the way they are harvested.

To properly prepare boletus for harvesting, you must:

  1. Immediately after collection, the lower part of the leg, if it is heavily soiled, must be cut off, and the rest of the leg and the cap should be cleaned from sand and soil with a toothbrush. This must be done before the product is in the basket.
  2. If you come across a wormy mushroom, then you should not take it. One worm can spoil a whole basket of forest products. If there are only single wormholes in the tubular part of the boletus, they must be cleaned. To do this, it is better to cut the mushroom at the wormhole.
  3. Boletus should not be washed before drying, as they easily grow moldy during the drying process.
  4. Heavily contaminated mushrooms intended for harvesting methods other than drying must be soaked in salt water for 10-15 minutes.

After cleaning, the harvesting process itself takes place. The most popular are the following harvesting methods:

  • drying;
  • freezing;
  • canning;
  • pickling;
  • shelter.

The choice of the preparation method depends on the taste preferences of the mushroom pickers. It is believed that when dried mushrooms retain their taste and aroma best of all, therefore this method is currently the most common. They are dried in the shade in the open air, in attics, in ovens, ovens, microwave ovens and special dryers. Dried porcini mushrooms can be stored for 1 year in dry rooms at an air temperature of + 18 ° C +/- 2 ° C.

Useful and healing properties

Porcini mushrooms are prized for their high taste. They contain few substances that are irreplaceable for the human body, so they cannot be classified as products that must be present in any diet. However, for vegetarians who do not consume animal protein, dried boletus can be a good alternative.

VitaminsPorcini mushrooms contain:

  • vitamins (A, C, D, E, group B);
  • minerals (potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, manganese, cobalt, fluorine, selenium, zinc, iodine, sulfur);
  • alimentary fiber;
  • polysaccharides (chitin, glycogen, beta-glucan);
  • alkaloids (hercedine and skullcap);
  • proteins and amino acids, including ergothioneine;
  • fats, including lecithin;
  • enzymes.

Porcini mushrooms have a number of useful and medicinal properties, which include:

  • dietetic – low energy value (100 g of fresh porcini mushrooms contains 34 kcal);
  • the ability to stimulate the secretion of the digestive glands;
  • tonic properties;
  • immunomodulatory action;
  • antimicrobial effect;
  • hypocholesterolemic properties (due to lecithin);
  • regenerating properties (due to ergothioneine);
  • antioxidant effect (due to beta-glucan);
  • wound healing effect (externally).

Oncological diseasesIn medicine, porcini mushrooms are rarely used as a medicine. The main indications for their treatment are:

  • prevention of oncological diseases. According to statistics, women who regularly eat boletus are less likely to get breast cancer. This fact suggests that they have anti-cancer properties, probably due to the high content of sulfur associated with polysaccharides;
  • diet therapy for tuberculosis. The immunomodulatory, antimicrobial and tonic properties of boletus strengthen the weakened immune system of patients;
  • atherosclerosis. Lecithin, contained in boletus, lowers blood cholesterol;
  • frostbite. Water extract from dried boletus, when applied externally, helps to restore the skin after frostbite.

Before using boletus for medical purposes, it is imperative to visit a competent doctor. Mushrooms cannot replace the basic therapy of diseases: they can only be an adjunct in their complex treatment.

Hazardous properties

Fresh boletus contains a difficult-to-digest substance – chitin, so they belong to heavy food, the digestion of which requires the intensified work of all digestive glands. In dried porcini mushrooms, chitin is absent, therefore, the benefits of protein in this way prepared products are much higher than when they are consumed fresh or thermally processed.

PregnancyThe difficulty in digesting boletus is the basis for limiting their consumption or refusing to take them. Contraindications to their use are:

  • children (up to 12 years old) and old age;
  • pregnancy and lactation;
  • diseases of the digestive tract (gastritis, colitis, pancreatitis, gallstone disease, digestive disorders);
  • idiosyncrasy;
  • allergic reactions.

Fresh young white forest products do not contain harmful substances. Toxic substances can accumulate in the pulp of mushrooms if they:

  • overripe;
  • affected by diseases, worms and other pests;
  • poorly cleaned;
  • grow in industrial areas, near busy highways, landfills, sedimentation tanks, agricultural land or livestock enterprises;
  • not harvested within 8-10 hours after collection;
  • preserved without observing sterilization regimes.

Increased body temperatureWhen eating such porcini mushrooms in food, side effects are possible:

  • digestive disorders (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea);
  • increased body temperature;
  • stomach ache;
  • weakening of the pulse;
  • cold snap of fingers and toes;
  • neurological disorders (confusion, impaired sensitivity or motor activity).

If the sterilization regime is not followed when canning poorly peeled boletus, botulinum toxin can accumulate in the product, which causes paralysis of the respiratory muscles, which can lead to death.

Cooking application

In cooking, boletus mushrooms are used raw, frozen and dried, in the form of canned food, pickles. They are boiled, fried, stewed, baked. Reviews of porcini mushroom lovers in various forums indicate that it is preferable to use dried boletus for cooking various mushroom dishes. The most popular among them are porcini mushroom soup and mushroom sauce. It is in these dishes that they reveal themselves, showing all their taste and aroma qualities.

Porcini mushroom soup

Porcini mushroom soupA handful of dried boletus is soaked in milk for 30 minutes, washed thoroughly, then boiled for 15-20 minutes. Sliced ​​onions and carrots are fried in a pan, then pre-cooked porcini mushrooms are added. After frying for 10 minutes, the contents of the pan, along with the chopped potatoes, are poured into the pan. Cook until potatoes are cooked. Served with herbs and sour cream.

Mushroom sauce

A handful of dried forest gifts are poured with water for 1,5 hours, after which the water is drained, and the product is thoroughly washed. After that, 1 liter of fresh water is poured and boiled for about an hour. Fry onions in a pan until golden brown, add boiled boletus mushrooms, fry under a lid for about 15 minutes. Stirring with a whisk, introduce 3 tbsp. tablespoons of flour, then diluted with mushroom broth to the desired consistency. Add sour cream, herbs and spices to taste. This sauce goes well with pilaf, pasta dishes, buckwheat porridge, meat.

There are a lot of recipes for boletus dishes in different forms – these are soups, and pilaf, and roast, and pates, and sauces. All these recipes combine a unique aroma with nutty notes and a memorable rich mushroom flavor.

conclusions

Borovik is a unique forest product, a source of protein. Their high palatability with low calorie content makes it possible to widely use these gifts of the forest in cooking, and the presence of extractives, sulfur, beta-glucan, ergothioneine, lecithin, vitamins and minerals – can be used in the complex treatment of serious diseases (oncology, tuberculosis, atherosclerosis).

The presence of a large amount of chitin in the shells of boletus makes it difficult to digest their proteins. Therefore, there are a number of contraindications for the use of these products. Part of the problem of difficult digestibility is solved by drying the mushrooms, which facilitates the bioavailability of the mushroom proteins.

To enjoy delicious forest white products, you need to be able to properly collect, procure and store them. Before going into the forest for mushrooms, you need to replenish your baggage of knowledge with valuable information about the rules for collecting them so that delicious food does not turn out to be dangerous. When buying ready-made boletus mushrooms (dried, salted, canned), preference should be given to the products of industrial manufacturers, rather than random artisanal cooks.

Anna Evans

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