The right place: where you should not pick mushrooms

Although mushrooms can grow almost anywhere, this does not mean that they can be collected everywhere. It must be remembered that this culture eagerly absorbs substances from the environment, and try to avoid:

• roads . Exhaust gases are not the best supplement for human health, so we move away from large highways into the forest at least a kilometer, and 500 m from a regular highway will be enough;
• railway tracks;
• factories and factories;
• oil storages and fuel bases;
• landfills;
• agricultural enterprises(when growing their products, they can use chemicals and pesticides, which are transmitted through the soil to mushrooms growing nearby).

overgrown mushrooms

A separate risk group is represented by old specimens of edible varieties. Even growing in safe areas, they are capable of accumulating enough heavy metals and harmful components for a long time to spoil a person’s health. For this reason, try to collect only young shoots.

Did you know?The pressure of mushrooms can reach 7 atmospheres, so characteristic hats are often found in the middle of asphalt roads. During the period of its growth, such a "baby" is able to break through not only concrete, but also marble, iron.

But if it was not possible to avoid overgrowth, then boil them for at least 20 minutes before use. After the water must be drained, and only then the mushrooms will be ready for further processing.

Mistakes, unfortunately, sometimes happen to experienced mushroom pickers, so it is extremely important to be able to provide first aid in case of poisoning.

This is a set of activities that includes:

1. call an ambulance. This must be done as soon as the first signs appear;
2. gastric lavage. Vomiting can ensure the speedy removal of poison from the body. To do this, let the victim drink 1-2 liters of potassium permanganate solution (preparation instructions should be on the package). The same effect will be caused by the use of sorbents (activated, white carbon) at the rate of 1 gram of the drug per 1 kg of human weight. Vomiting is continued until only water remains in the stomach. If there are no special equipment at hand, ordinary salt will do. For 1 glass of water, dilute 2 tbsp. l. salt and give to drink. Such a solution will have a laxative effect. For this, ordinary laxatives are also used (1-2 grams per 1 kg of weight), but the total number of drugs should be divided into 2-3 doses during the day;
3. fluid replenishment in the body. Vomiting and diarrhea are very drying, so after removing toxins, the first thing to do is replenish the fluid balance. To do this, use sweet tea, mineral water.

When going to the forest, do not rely on folk methods: whatever the reasons for their occurrence, the effectiveness of such remedies has not been scientifically proven. If any mushroom is in doubt, do not take it. Remember the rules of mushroom hunting and take care of your health and your loved ones.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your opinion!

Write in the comments what questions you did not receive an answer to, we will definitely respond!

68 times already
helped

It seems that now it is not fashionable to pick mushrooms on your own, but some townspeople still go to the forest to hunt mushrooms. This is both an opportunity to be in the fresh air away from the noise, and a useful thing to bring dinner home, and at the same time, prepare mushrooms for the winter. But such a pleasant thing can end badly if an inexperienced mushroom picker brings a poisonous crop from the forest. Details on how to determine whether a poisonous mushroom or not are in our article.

How to distinguish edible mushrooms from unfit for food?

Many mushrooms dangerous to humans are difficult to distinguish from their edible counterparts. And therefore - do not cut the mushroom at all, if it calls at least slightest doubt. There is a misconception that it is enough to taste a dubious crop by slightly biting a hat or a leg to determine whether it is poisonous or not. Allegedly, if bitterness appears, then this species cannot be used in cooking. Such experiments can end in terrible poisoning. Mushrooms need to be checked only by appearance, no taste experiments.

Types of poisonous mushrooms and how to identify them:

How to identify poisonous mushrooms when cooking

Mushrooms brought from the forest must be boiled immediately. Otherwise, after a few hours, the entire crop is inedible. All forest finds must be well washed, sorted and cleaned. Immediately discard old, very large and not strong mushrooms. After cooking, they will become soft, lose all taste, and their use can also result in poisoning. While the mushrooms are sorted out, their "authenticity" is checked once again. Again, only visually. All the myths that silverware darkens from contact with poisonous mushrooms are not. You should not believe that poisonous mushrooms are not wormy; when cleaning, you still will not be able to identify them on this basis.

When everything is checked, the mushrooms are cut and begin to cook. And here there is another secret, how to determine a poisonous mushroom or not, already in the process of cooking. Together with the forest harvest, the bulb is immediately lowered. If the poisonous mushroom still gets into the pan, the onion acquires a bluish tint. Then you have to part with undercooked soup. If the bulb has become transparent, all mushrooms are edible. After they are cooked, just before removing from the heat, you can carefully check the broth for taste. If there is no bitterness, then the dish can be eaten.

How to test mushrooms for toxicity? On your own, no way. Just drag the suspect to the lab. But, often, it costs a lot of money, so many people collect unknown mushrooms at their own peril and risk.

How many times have they told the world: never take unknown mushrooms. Don't even touch it with your hands. The juice of the pale toadstool, getting into the wound on the finger, causes fatal poisoning. And after all never you will think, why the bad state of health has begun.

Well, we will not describe all the symptoms of poisoning or list poisonous mushrooms. Let's debunk the most common myths.

Silver check

The most widespread myth. Throw a silver item into a bowl with mushrooms and boil. Or even rub silver on the fracture of the fungus. Allegedly from poisonous silver will darken. Pfe twice. It will also darken from certain substances in edible mushrooms.

onion check

“My grandmother also tested mushrooms for poisonousness!” I'm sure I only checked the edible ones. Otherwise, her grandson would not be writing such heresy now.

The method is to throw a peeled onion into a saucepan with mushrooms. It seems to turn blue from the poison of mushrooms. Well, yes. Now let someone answer:

1. For how many mushrooms to take a bulb of what size?
2. Should the head be purple, white, yellow? Onion spicy or sweet salad?
3. Do all poisonous mushrooms have the same poisonous substance? Or different?
4. How much poison triggers the onion indicator?

When there is a person who will accurately answer all questions and scientifically substantiate (prove) the veracity of his statements, then this method will be considered 100%.

In the meantime, let the supporters of this myth try to boil any poisonous mushrooms with an onion. Yes, just for the sake of experimentation. Then let them admire the result. That's when we'll talk. Now, quit.

milk indicator

Another babkin way. Allegedly, from a poisonous mushroom, milk curdles to whey. Well, yes, but it turns from edible into oil. Or in sour cream.

Check back. Bathe in milk any edible mushrooms in turn. And look at ... the curdled mass in the vessel. It is not poison that causes such a reaction, but enzymes, of which there are many in many mushrooms.

The method has not been considered in scientific research and cannot be considered reliable.

How to check mushrooms for toxicity in the forest

We repeat once again: do not take strangers! And don’t even take those who look like friends! Not all edible mushrooms have poisonous counterparts, but sometimes even experienced foragers get confused. Do not risk your health in favor of gluttony and greed.

By the way, did you know that even edible mushrooms under certain conditions can cause severe indigestion? And why is it not poisoning? Such dangerous properties mushrooms are acquired when:

1. Collected along the track or a busy road. Heavy metals, lead, dirty exhaust - all this is remarkably absorbed by the mycelium.
2. Damaged by larvae. Waste products of worms are highly toxic substances. And besides, such mushrooms, as a rule, are already subject to decay, even if it is imperceptible to the naked eye.
3. Get old or huge.

Instead of the joy of finding a giant mushroom, there should be a healthy fear. Why did this mutant grow to such a size? What rubbish did he eat that he became abnormally large? And it’s good if everything works out with indigestion or hallucinations.

Advice. Be sure to include your head on a quiet hunt. The rapture of finds can cost you and your household the life.

There are several unshakable rules that will help to avoid trouble. You need to remember them and apply them in the forest.

1. All deadly poisonous mushrooms are from lamellar. There are no tubular poisonous ones in Russia. Inedible due to bitterness or excessive hardness - yes.
2. Most poisonous mushrooms have a drop-shaped thickening of the stem at the base and a skirt under the cap itself.
3. Edible mushrooms grow only in deciduous forests. In coniferous - only false.
4. Pale grebe has the above features and absolutely white plates.
5. For a real mushroom picker, any unfamiliar mushroom is a toadstool.

Following these rules, some comrades may begin to mow all tubular mushrooms in the season. You don't have to do that. This is fraught with serious trouble. At least indigestion, at most fatal.

How not to test mushrooms for toxicity

For the smell. There is an opinion that poisonous mushrooms smell of some kind of technical smell. Nonsense. Not all, far from all deadly poisons smell bad. Some of them have a mild aroma, others emit the smell of mushrooms.

To taste. There are recommendations to bite off a piece of the cap or lick the flesh on the break. Say, poisonous mushrooms will be bitter. Generally dangerous advice. After such contact of the oral mucosa with the juice of the pale toadstool, there is a great risk of forgetting about quiet hunting forever. That is, to forget eternal sleep.

Or so. Let us assume that a person believes in this method. I went into the forest, found a breast, a wave, valu. And he doubts. Broke the pulp, licked. What will he feel? That's right, bitterness. milky juice always bitter. No wonder such mushrooms are soaked before cooking. Are they also poisonous?

For color. Russula's hat is red, pink, green. Palepoganka's hat is also green. The plates of real champignon are pink. A number of poisonous mushrooms have the same color of the plates. The poisonous pulp on the break quickly changes color from light to red, dark pink or blue. However, the edible also changes color in some. And how not to confuse? Very simple. Do not take strangers!

By place of growth. There is an erroneous version that deadly poisonous mushrooms grow only in deciduous or coniferous forests. Allegedly, in the meadows and fields, you can safely collect any mushrooms, there will be no danger of poisoning.

Sheer nonsense. Poison mushrooms can grow anywhere. They can be found in any area.

According to the age. Another life-threatening statement: all young mushrooms are edible. No doubt, most poisonous mushrooms accumulate a terrible substance as they grow. But some are deadly from infancy. And small mushrooms are very easy to confuse with safe ones.

A strange recipe for a deadly snack, don't you think? Wasting so much time, electricity or gas just to hypothetically protect yourself? Isn't it easier to do everything quickly and effortlessly? It is necessary to throw out suspicious mushrooms. Reliable and safe.

There is no reliable way to test mushrooms for toxicity at home. You need to have access to chemical reagents or to a professional laboratory. There are no other methods with 100% results.

How to test mushrooms for toxicity? You have to do it with your head, only with your head. And do not put mushrooms in your mouth or sniff them, but turn on your brains. Collect only those mushrooms that you know. Or go on a quiet hunt with knowledgeable people.

Video: how to distinguish edible mushrooms from poisonous

Some time ago, many inexperienced and novice mushroom pickers tested the edibility of mushrooms in several ineffective ways, using the so-called "folk" means, but such methods do not always reliably determine toxicity, so there is a high risk of confusing an edible mushroom with a poisonous one.

Checking with a bow

The method of checking the edibility of mushrooms with an onion still does not lose popularity. Quite often garlic is used instead of onions in such recipes, but the principle of such a check is the same:

• clean and wash the mushrooms;
• cut clean fruiting bodies and immerse in water;
• add onion or garlic cloves to boiling water with mushrooms.

It is generally accepted that if there are poisonous mushrooms in the pan, onions or garlic will turn brown. However, the color change is due to the presence in the fruiting bodies of a special enzyme called tyrosinase. Such an enzyme is contained in both some edible and poisonous species, so the method cannot be considered effective.

Milk test

Very often you can find the statement that when poisonous mushrooms are immersed in milk, the drink turns sour quickly enough. However, the souring of milk has nothing to do with toxicity and occurs solely as a result of the action of an enzyme such as pepsin or as a result of the action of organic acids, which can be found in varying amounts even in the fruiting bodies of edible mushrooms.

Boil test

No less popular is the method of determining the toxicity when cooking mushrooms. In this case, it is supposed to use any silver object, a silver spoon, which must be lowered into the mushroom broth. Silver is expected to turn black in the presence of poisonous mushrooms. This common myth has long been debunked: silver, of course, will darken under the influence of amino acids that contain sulfur and can be part of the pulp of not only poisonous, but also completely edible mushrooms. Among other things, many poisonous mushrooms are known to lack sulfur-containing amino acids.

How to identify edible mushrooms (video)

Also, during the cooking process, it is supposed to remove the poison from the fruiting bodies by adding an acetic-salt solution. The method is not bad when cooking mushrooms with low toxic pulp, such as stitches, but when used to neutralize the poison of pale toadstool or other highly toxic mushrooms, it is absolutely useless.

Other myths about self-determination of edibility

Many mushroom pickers are still convinced that the use of pre-boiling for a long time contributes to the complete removal of poisonous, toxic substances from the mushroom pulp. But, unfortunately, all the most dangerous poisons are heat-resistant, and even a very long boil has no effect on them.

It should be noted that the erroneous opinion that a poisonous mushroom necessarily has an unpleasant and specific odor, more often than others, causes serious poisoning. For example, the aroma of champignon is almost indistinguishable from the smell of the pulp of the most dangerous, deadly poisonous mushroom - pale toadstool. Among other things, different people smells are perceived very differently and cannot serve as an assessment of the quality and edibility of the fungus.

There is also an opinion that insects and slugs do not touch the pulp of poisonous mushrooms, which also has no basis. scientific justification. However, the most deadly misconception is the myth that strong alcohol is able to neutralize mushroom poison, while alcohol-containing drinks, on the contrary, are almost instantly capable of spreading the toxins of poisonous mushrooms throughout the body.

Expert opinion

All experts are unanimous in their opinion that all the "folk" methods that supposedly allow you to check whether a mushroom is edible are pseudoscientific and have absolutely no justification. Even with the slightest doubt about the edibility of the found mushroom, it should not be taken into the basket. It is impossible to postpone the revision of the entire harvest, therefore, immediately after returning from a “quiet” hunt, it is necessary to carefully review and sort out the mushrooms. Also, you can not collect old, wormy and overgrown mushrooms.

Edible mushrooms: identification methods (video)

Mushroom pickers should definitely adhere to the five basic rules of "silent" hunting:

• all dangerous, deadly poisonous species of mushrooms must be "know by sight";
• it is important to carefully examine the collected mushrooms and be able to distinguish edible species from twin mushrooms;
• mushroom picking is not allowed industrial areas and near highways;
• it is not recommended to collect mushrooms in dry and hot weather;
• you can not collect overgrown mushrooms, even edible species.

It is very important to subject the collected mushrooms to a thorough heat treatment. by the most in a reliable way there is still cooking of mushrooms, which allows to reduce the concentration of toxic substances in the fruiting bodies. in a good way is the soaking of mushrooms for several hours with repeated water changes.

Why is self-examination dangerous?

One of the most dangerous is the mushroom poison phalloidin, which is found in large quantities in the pulp of pale grebe. The effect of this toxin on the human body is comparable to snake venom, and for a fatal outcome, it is enough to consume only a few grams of the fruiting body.

It should also be remembered that mushroom dishes are very heavy food for the body and people with diseases of the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, hypertension and metabolic disorders may experience some problems after eating them. It is strictly forbidden to cook and store cooked mushrooms in aluminum, zinc or ceramic pans covered with glaze, since in such containers the fruiting bodies completely lose their edibility. It is important to remember that " silent hunting"is not at all a safe activity, therefore, when collecting them, you need to be extremely careful and attentive.

How to cook mushrooms (video)

Every year, with the onset of the mushroom season, a very large number of poisonings are recorded, so you should not endanger your life and use absolutely ineffective "folk" remedies to check the harvested crop.