Can You Identify Edible Mushroom Grown in the Wild

Mushrooms are tasty fungi. But the question is can you identify edible mushrooms grown in the wild? Some are edible but most of them are poisonous.

Every year, many have lost their lives or even been hospitalized after consuming such mushrooms. If we are not 100 percent sure, don’t touch them. Consult the locals or elders who know better than you.

It is not wise enough to unnecessary take risks. More than 1000 wild mushrooms are grown around us. Most of them are edible, and only a few are poisonous.

Here in Manipur, hunting for edible mushrooms is carried out in teams. The team consists of local, mushroom experts and fungi lovers. They collect the mushroom and sorted out which are edible and destroyed those which are harmful.

This is done mainly to prevent the innocent people from the poisonous mushroom. Those who can’t differentiate between edible and poisonous mushroom will pluck those and cause troubles.

Just to save lives, they are destroyed, which is the only option.

Edible Mushroom grown in the wild are also harmful

Even if the mushroom grown in the wild are edible and known to us, we must take special precautions. We must check the spot where these edible mushrooms are growing. Are they near the steams or deep in the swampy places?

Snakes loves Mushrooms. Do you know this? Yes, snakes like mushroom and they spray their poisonous fangs on the fungi. How to identify these poisonous mushroom?

When you get such mushrooms, there won’t be any fly or ants around them. You may also see some insects laying dead. That is simple. They have tasted the snake venom from the mushroom.

Mushroom hunting is fun but one careless step will cost the family. We have to be very careful in identifying the edible mushrooms.

Things to avoid while eating mushroom

Do not eat the mushroom raw or half uncooked. Many a times, after consuming such edible mushrooms, we vomit and it can lead to severe stomach cramps, followed by diarrhea.

 Cooked the mushroom fully and tasted it. After all, mushroom are the tastiest edible fungi found on this planet.

Most wild mushrooms are difficult to digest when cooked raw. If you are able to identify edible mushroom grown in the wild, cook them well.

You can either stewed or fried the mushroom.. In some mushrooms that are otherwise mildly toxic, heat will break down the toxins. However, this isn’t universally true, so remain cautious.

Do not pluck the old or decaying mushroom. Always pick the best and fresh mushrooms with thick stems and no damage to the body from insects or other animals. If you think that a mushroom may have had a bite taken out of it, leave it alone.

Another mushroom to avoid are so-called “false morels.” If you see a mushroom with wrinkled, irregular caps that appear as if stony coral or saddles, with a bottom edge that hangs free around the base, avoid it.

Even in the best case, it is possible the parasol you have found is the Green-spored Lepiota, which is common to North America.

Almost every kid with a lawn has kicked one or two over growing in their yard. These mushrooms have cream-colored caps that get brown as they grow old . Avoid these as well.

If you are a newbie in mushroom hunting, the thumb rule is pluck one of the mushroom, see weather the milk like liquid comes out, that is edible one.

Also check if the mushroom color changes after plucking, avoid those!