POISONOUS AND HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS
by Michael W. Beug Email: beugm@evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA
Slide 49.
Lepista nuda or Clitocybe nuda, The Wood Blewit,
is a choice edible species when thoroughly cooked, but is moderately poisonous
if eaten raw. Indeed, I recommend that no mushrooms be eaten raw. In addition
to the heat labile hemolysin, some mushrooms contain potentially carcinogenic
hydrazines that are deactivated on cooking. Others contain an enzyme that
blocks protein uptake. Mushrooms can be very nutritious after cooking but
are generally hard to digest or worse when eaten raw. Paradoxically, several
strains of the common commercial button mushroom including the now popular
Portobello, contain significant levels of Agaritine, a potentially carcinogenic
hydrazine that is bioactivated by cooking.
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