MUSHROOMS AS FOOD. ijs 



do not contain a high percentage of nitrogen, and a considerable por- 

 tion of the nitrogen present is in the form of nonalbuminoids. 



The extravagant statements concerning the food value of mush- 

 rooms which are said to depend on analyses can doubtless be ex- 

 plained by the fact that the niitrients in the dry matter of mushrooms 

 were compared with the nutrients of other foods in a fresh condition. 

 A recent writer calls attention to the fact that some text-books con- 

 tain the statement that mushrooms average ^^ per cent, protein 

 matter, while bread only contains 8. This can only mean that the 

 dry matter of the mushroom contains t,^ per cent, of protein and 

 fresh bread 8 per cent. Such a comparison is manifestly unfair, since 

 when considered on the same basis, that is, in the ordinary condition 

 in which they are used for food, bread contains, in round numbers, 65 

 per cent, nutrients and mushrooms 10. Although so many statements 

 have been made in recent years concerning the high food value of 

 mushrooms, the fact has long been recognized that they do not possess 

 this high food value. A recent publication on the subject states that 

 Dr. Kitchener in his " Cook's Oracle," published in 1824, says that he 

 does not believe mushrooms are nutritious, while Pereira in his 

 "Treatise on Food and Diet," published in 1843, states that " Mush- 

 rooms are difficult of digestion and on certain constitutions act injuri- 

 ously. Invalids, dyspeptics, and those with delicate stomachs, will 

 act prudently in avoiding the use of this doubtful order of foods." 



The value of a food is not determined alone by its composition. 

 The digestibility — that is, the material which the body can retain and 

 utilize — is of even more importance. The experiments at the Shef- 

 field Scientific School showed that from 26 to 59 per cent, of the total 

 dry matter of the edible fungi tested was indigestible. The total 

 amount of digestible protein is about the same as in the potato. These 

 results were obtained by the methods of artificial digestion. They 

 agree in all essential points with those obtained by European investi- 

 gators. From them the following conclusions may be drawn : 



When it is remembered that mushrooms contain 75 to 92 per cent, 

 of water, and that the total amount of protein present is compara- 

 tively small, it will be seen that they correspond with fresh vegetables. 

 Indeed, they are decidedly inferior to many vegetables. The expres- 

 sion "vegetable beefsteak" seems peculiarly inappropriate when ap- 

 plied in a strictly chemical sense. A person depending upon mush- 

 rooms to furnish the amount of protein necessary in a day's diet would 

 be compelled to consume about 8 pounds, if the morel, a fair average 

 species, were selected. The carbohydrate content of mushrooms is 

 relatively high, but there is no lack of carbohydrate foods in the 



