Our country has a hot and humid climate with lots of rain, which is favorable for the growth of natural mushrooms, including many poisonous mushrooms. Some poisonous mushrooms only grow in spring or spring-summer, others grow mainly in summer or summer-autumn, and others grow all year round. The changes in size, shape, and color in a short period of time can easily cause confusion in distinguishing between edible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms.
According to Dr. Bui Thi Tra Vi - Department of Nutrition & Dietetics - Hanoi Medical University Hospital, poisonous mushrooms in nature often have colorful, eye-catching colors, with caps, plates, stems that are swollen and bulbous, or mushrooms with light pink spores, red caps with white scales, and light-emitting mycelium. Some species of mushrooms may have toxin levels that vary seasonally, during growth (young or mature mushrooms), and in different soil and soil environments. Therefore, there may be cases of eating the same species of mushroom but sometimes being poisoned, sometimes not. In addition, poisonous mushrooms often have a pungent smell and are milky...
However, there are many exceptions, there are poisonous mushrooms that have the same color and shape as normal mushrooms. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish safe mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms without enough experience and knowledge. Therefore, according to Dr. Tra Vi, it is best to consider all mushrooms in the forest as poisonous and should not be eaten.
White poisonous mushrooms Some common poisonous mushrooms
White umbrella mushroom: This is a type of mushroom that grows in clusters or singly on the ground in forests and some other places... In our country, white umbrella mushrooms often grow in the northern mountainous provinces such as: Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai, Bac Can, Phu Tho. They often grow in areas along the edge of bamboo, bamboo, palm forests and some forests with many sparse tree species.
The main toxin in white umbrella mushrooms is amanitin (amatoxin) which is highly toxic. The toxin of the mushroom acts on liver cells causing liver necrosis, excreted through urine and milk causing poisoning in breastfed children. The first symptoms after eating mushrooms appear late (6-24 hours), on average about 10-12 hours with symptoms of nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and watery diarrhea many times. This is followed by liver failure, kidney failure (jaundice, polyuria, oliguria, coma) and death.
Appearance : The mushroom cap is white, sometimes dirty yellow in the middle, the surface of the cap is smooth and shiny when dry, slimy and sticky when humid. The young mushroom cap has a round head, the curved edge sticks tightly to the stem, the mushroom cap gradually grows into a cone shape, and finally when the mushroom is mature, the mushroom cap is flat with a diameter of about 5-10 cm. The mushroom gills are white, the mushroom stem is white, has a white ring, the stem base is bulbous, has a calyx-shaped base, the mushroom flesh is soft, white, and has a mild aroma.
Gray-brown Spotted Mushroom : This mushroom contains muscarine and usually grows on the ground in forests or where there are many rotting leaves. Gray-brown Spotted Mushroom has a conical to bell-shaped cap with a pointed tip and yellow to brown filaments radiating from the tip to the edge of the cap.
When old, the edge of the mushroom cap is split into separate rays. The diameter of the mushroom cap is 2 - 8 cm. The young mushroom gills are slightly white, tightly attached to the stem, when old they are gray or brown, separated from the stem. The mushroom stem is slightly white to yellow-brown, 3 - 9 cm long, the base is not bulbous, without a stem ring. The mushroom flesh is white.
The main toxin of this mushroom is muscarine, which affects the parasympathetic nervous system, causing symptoms such as sweating, difficulty breathing, wheezing, slow pulse, coma, and convulsions. Symptoms appear within 15 minutes to several hours.
White umbrella mushroom with green gills : This is a type of mushroom that belongs to the group of toxins that stimulate the gastrointestinal tract. The poison quickly causes nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhea. The mushroom often grows in clusters or singly on the edge of buffalo and cow pens, on lawns, corn fields and some places with humus and loose soil in nature. The young mushroom cap is long and hemispherical, light yellow, with small light brown or light gray scales. When mature, the mushroom cap is umbrella-shaped or flat, white, with a diameter of 5 - 15cm. On the surface of the mushroom cap, there are thin, dirty brown scales, the scales gradually thicken towards the top of the cap. The gills (underside of the mushroom cap) are white when young, light green or gray-green when old, the green color is more obvious as the mushroom ages. The mushroom stem shrinks in color from white to brown or gray, with a ring at the upper part close to the cap. The stem base is not bulbous and does not have a base sheath; 10 - 30cm long. The mushroom flesh is white. This mushroom has toxins that cause digestive disorders (abdominal pain, vomiting, severe diarrhea), can cause death due to dehydration, electrolyte loss and combined with other chronic diseases.
How to prevent mushroom poisoning
Dr. Bui Thi Tra Vi recommends that you absolutely do not collect or use strange mushrooms, mushrooms of unknown origin, or mushrooms suspected of being unsafe for food preparation, even just once. You should only use mushrooms sold at reputable establishments.
In mountainous areas, when eating mushrooms, you should ask experienced people to identify poisonous mushrooms. Do not pick mushrooms that are too young, when the mushroom cap has not yet spread out, because you cannot see all the structural characteristics of the mushroom to clearly determine whether the species is poisonous or not.
When symptoms of poisoning related to eating mushrooms appear, go immediately to the nearest medical facility for first aid, emergency care and timely treatment.
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