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With many edible fungi species - Boletes for instance - boiling can be the difference between getting sick (2-3 days of GI distress) and a good meal. When it c

With many edible fungi species - Boletes for instance - boiling can be the difference between getting sick (2-3 days of GI distress) and a good meal. When it comes to other species like Amanita phalloides (death cap) or Galerina sp. - which contain Amatoxins and resemble edibles - boiling will have no effect: You will need a liver transplant [1]. Amanita muscaria does not contain amatoxins - but it does contain muscimol and ibotenic acid, which are interesting in their own right [2]. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amatoxin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amatoxin 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscimol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscimol

mattnewport 8y ago
The best known edible boletes (penny bun / cep / porcini) don't require boiling, they're fine eaten raw. Which varieties need to be boiled?
- eagletusk 8y ago
  Most of the nutrients in mushrooms are behind a cell wall of chitin, which is a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides and forming the major constituent in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi. because of this chitin, eating a mushroom raw is not very nutritious and you miss out on most of the health benefits.
  - mattnewport 8y ago
    Not being nutritious and making you sick are rather different though. Although porcini can be eaten raw it is probably most commonly fried or sautéed. Boiling it seems like a bit of a waste of a food prized for its flavor.
Alex3917 8y ago
> With many edible fungi species - Boletes for instance What are examples of bolete species that are only edible if boiled? I know of a lot that are only edible if well cooked, but haven't heard of any that are only edible if specifically boiled. (I'm from New England / mid-Atlantic though, so I only know the ones around here.)
- pvaldes 8y ago
  Boletus erythropus, but eating Boletus with red pores is a bad idea. The venomous species share this feature. In theory, Is said that venomous boletus boiled are less toxic, but they still have unpleasant effects.
  - Alex3917 8y ago
    Interesting. Yeah I've never used the regional bolete rules-of-thumb (not red/orange pored, not fast blueing, not B. huronensis) to decide whether or not to eat something. I think I need to just go take the Eagle Hill bolete class with the Bessettes one year if they keep offering it, otherwise I feel like they're just too hard to really ID beyond the handful of really easy ones.

mattnewport 8y ago

The best known edible boletes (penny bun / cep / porcini) don't require boiling, they're fine eaten raw. Which varieties need to be boiled?

eagletusk 8y ago
Most of the nutrients in mushrooms are behind a cell wall of chitin, which is a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides and forming the major constituent in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi. because of this chitin, eating a mushroom raw is not very nutritious and you miss out on most of the health benefits.
- mattnewport 8y ago
  Not being nutritious and making you sick are rather different though. Although porcini can be eaten raw it is probably most commonly fried or sautéed. Boiling it seems like a bit of a waste of a food prized for its flavor.

Alex3917 8y ago

> With many edible fungi species - Boletes for instance What are examples of bolete species that are only edible if boiled? I know of a lot that are only edible if well cooked, but haven't heard of any that are only edible if specifically boiled. (I'm from New England / mid-Atlantic though, so I only know the ones around here.)

pvaldes 8y ago
Boletus erythropus, but eating Boletus with red pores is a bad idea. The venomous species share this feature. In theory, Is said that venomous boletus boiled are less toxic, but they still have unpleasant effects.
- Alex3917 8y ago
  Interesting. Yeah I've never used the regional bolete rules-of-thumb (not red/orange pored, not fast blueing, not B. huronensis) to decide whether or not to eat something. I think I need to just go take the Eagle Hill bolete class with the Bessettes one year if they keep offering it, otherwise I feel like they're just too hard to really ID beyond the handful of really easy ones.