MUSHROOMS AS FOOD. 

 By C. F. Langwortliy, Ph. D. 



THERE is a widespread idea that mushrooms and other edible 

 fungi are very nutritious foods. They are commonly said to 

 contain very large quantities of protein (nitrogenous material) 

 and to rank close to meat as sources of this important nutrient. 

 The term " vegetable beefsteak " has been applied to them, and other 

 equally extravagant statements are frequently met with. Numbers 

 of analyses of edible fungi have been reported by the experiment 

 stations in the United States European investigators have also de- 

 termined their composition and studied their digestibility by human 

 subjects and by inethods of artificial digestion 



An extended study of the food value of edible fungi, including 

 their digestibility, has recently been published by Prof. Mendell of 

 the physiological laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 

 University. 



Analysis does not show that edible fungi (rnushrooms) possess a 

 high food value, as will be seen by the following table, in which their 

 composition as ascertained by Prof. Mendell is compared with that of 

 several common articles of food: 



Comparison of the composition of mushrooms and other foods. 



Common mushroom {Aga- 



ricus caiupestris) 



Shaggy coprinus (Copri- 



nus conuitus) 



Inky coprinus (C atramen- 



tarius)'- 



Common morel (Morchella 



esctilcnta) 



Sulphury polyporus ( Poly- 



poriis siilphiirens) 



Oyster mushroom (Plcuro^ 



tus ostreatus) 



Potatoes 



Cabbage 



Carrots . . 



Wheat bread 



Beefsteak (round) 



Ash. 



Per ct. 

 0.50 



..98 



1.29 



1.08 



2.13 



1 .60 

 1. 00 

 .70 

 .80 

 1. 10 

 1. 00 



'Dextrose. 



^Small young specimens 



^Approximation. 



It will be seen that the mushrooms contain a very high percentage 

 of water. In ordinary food materials protein is the most important 

 nutrient. As regards protein content, the mushrooms rank about 

 the same as potatoes, though they are decidedly inferior in food value, 

 since they contain much less carbohydrates. Nonalbuminoid nitrogen 

 is thought to have little food value. As will be seen, the mushrooms 



