What are shitake mushrooms
Shitake or "shiitake" are edible mushrooms originating in East Asia.
Cultivated and consumed mainly in Asian countries, these mushrooms are currently being expanded also in the West, thanks to the spread of Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisine.
Shitakes are wood mushrooms and grow mainly on dead tissue. In addition to being harvested in the wild, they are the subject of considerable agricultural production (25% of world production of mushrooms). They have discrete nutritional properties and their use in the kitchen occurs above all in Asian recipes.
They can give rise to a specific allergic reaction called shitake dermatitis.
In the East, especially in Japan and China, the production and consumption of shitake has been rooted in popular culture for many centuries.
Nutritional Properties
Nutritional characteristics of shitake
Shitake mushrooms do not belong to any of the VII fundamental food groups.
They are low calorie foods; raw produce 34 kcal / 100 g and contain about 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 2% protein and less than 1% fat. Most glucides are polysaccharide, peptides have no high biological value (medium or low) and the nature of fatty acids is unknown.
The fibers have a good prebiotic power.
The shitakes supply up to and over 20% of the "Daily Value" (DV) for some B group vitamins (especially B5, PP and B6) and provide moderate levels of some minerals; discrete percentages of zinc and manganese. Like all mushrooms, shitakes contain vitamin D2, derived from ergosterol, following exposure to UVB rays from sunlight or broadband neon UVB. Dried only have 10% water and the nutritional density consequently increases almost proportionally.
Shitake mushrooms lend themselves to most diets; Allergic people are obviously exceptions and - especially with regard to raw food - pregnant women. They have no contraindications in the diet for obesity and metabolic pathologies. Being lactose-free, histamine and gluten, they can be included in the nutritional regime of celiac and intolerant to milk sugar or histamine. They lend themselves to vegetarian, vegan and religious nutritional regimes of various kinds (Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Kosher, etc.).
The average portion of raw shitake mushrooms is 100-150 g (about 35-50 kcal).
| Shitake mushrooms, raw | Shitake mushrooms, dried | ||||
| Nutritional values per 100 g | Nutritional values per 100 g | ||||
| Power | 34.0 kcal | 296.0 kcal | |||
| Total carbohydrates | 6.8 g | 75.4 g | |||
| Starch | - g | - g | |||
| Simple sugars | 2.4 g | 2.2 g | |||
| fibers | 2.5 g | 11.5 g | |||
| Grassi | 0.5 g | 1.0 g | |||
| Saturated | - g | - g | |||
| Monounsaturated | - g | - g | |||
| polyunsaturated | - g | - g | |||
| Protein | 2.2 g | 9.6 g | |||
| water | 89.7 g | 9.5 g | |||
| Vitamins | |||||
| Vitamin A equivalent | - μg | -% | - μg | -% | |
| Beta-carotene | - μg | -% | - μg | -% | |
| Lutein Zexanthin | - μg | - μg | |||
| Vitamin A | - IU | - IU | |||
| Thiamine or B1 | 0.02 mg | 2 % | 0.30 mg | 26% | |
| Riboflavin or B2 | 0.22 mg | 18% | 1.27 mg | 106% | |
| Niacin or PP or B3 | 3.88 mg | 26% | 14.1 mg | 94% | |
| Pantothenic acid or B5 | 1.5 mg | 30% | 21.9 mg | 438% | |
| Pyridoxine or B6 | 0.29 mg | 22% | 0.97 mg | 74% | |
| folate | 13.0 μg | 3% | 163.0 μg | 41% | |
| Choline | - mg | -% | - mg | -% | |
| Ascorbic acid or C | 3.5 mg | 4% | 3.5 mg | 4% | |
| Vitamin D | 0.4 μg | 3% | 3.9 μg | 26% | |
| Alpha-tocopherol or E | - mg | -% | - mg | -% | |
| Vit. K | - μg | -% | - μg | -% | |
| Minerals | |||||
| Football | 2.0 mg | 0% | 11.0 mg | 1% | |
| Iron | 0.4 mg | 3% | 1.72 mg | 13% | |
| Magnesium | 20.0 mg | 6% | 132 mg | 37% | |
| Manganese | 0.2 mg | 10% | 1.18 mg | 56% | |
| Phosphorus | 112.0 mg | 16% | 294.0 mg | 42% | |
| Potassium | 304.0 mg | 6% | 1534.0 mg | 33% | |
| Sodium | 9.0 mg | 1% | 13.0 mg | 1% | |
| Zinc | 1.0 mg | 11% | 7.66 mg | 81% | |
| Fluoride | - μg | -% | - μg | -% | |
| Selenium | 5.7 μg | -% | 46.0 μg | -% | |
Shitake in the kitchen
Culinary use of shitakes
Fresh and dry shitakes have many culinary applications, especially in the gastronomy typical of East Asia. In Japan they come: served in miso soup, used as a base for a vegetarian type dashi and as an ingredient for various other recipes (steam or special stews called simmering - which cook at 94 ° C, then below the boiling point, for many hours). In Chinese cuisine they are often added, stir-fried, in vegan dishes, such as the "Buddha's delight" (Buddha's delight).
Valuable varieties of shitake
There are some types of more valuable shitake. One is called "donko" in Japanese or "dōnggū" in Chinese, names literally translatable as "winter mushroom". Another is called "huāgū" in Chinese, literally "flower mushroom", because on the upper portion of the hat it is characterized by a typical crack similar to a drawing. Both of these two types of shitake are produced at lower temperatures than normal.
Search
Shitake and medicine
Scientific research is currently underway to assess whether shitake mushrooms can influence the course of some diseases; currently no effect has been demonstrated.
Shitake dermatitis
Although rarely, the consumption of raw or undercooked shitake mushrooms can cause an allergic reaction called shitake dermatitis (shitake dermatitis). This is manifested by erythematous, micro-papular and striated skin eruptions all over the body, including the face and scalp.
The symptomatology, which may worsen with sun exposure, occurs 24 hours after consumption and disappears after 3-21 days. This reaction, presumably caused by the polysaccharide "lentinan", is more common in Asia but is increasing in Europe due to the increase in shitake food consumption.
Total cooking can avoid the risk of this allergenicity.
Other uses of shitake
Currently, research is underway that explores the use of shitake mushrooms in the production of organic fertilizers and compost originating from hardwoods.
Biology
Habitat and distribution of shitake mushrooms
Initially classified in the genus Agaricus by Miles Joseph Berkeley (1877), today they are part of the genus Lentinula (David Pegler, 1976); the contemporary scientific name of shitake mushrooms is L. edodes.
Shitakes grow in woody tissues of deciduous trees, especially: shii (Genus Castanopsis ), chestnut, oak, maple, beech, chinquapin (Genus Liquidambar ), poplar, hornbeam and mulberry.
The natural distribution of shitake mushrooms requires warm and humid climates, typical of south-east Asia.
Taxonomy
Names of shitake mushrooms
The shitakes are mushrooms belonging to the Marasmiaceae family, Genus Lentinula, species edodes . The Japanese name "shiitake" (椎 茸) is composed of the words "shii" and "take". Shī or 椎 means " Castanopsis ", or the botanical genus of the trees on which these mushrooms grow; take or 茸 means "mushroom". The Latin epithet edodes means "edible".
The shitake are also commonly referred to as "sawtooth oak mushroom", "black mushroom", "black forest mushroom" (black forest mushroom), "golden oak mushroom" (golden oak mushroom) or "Oakwood mushroom" (oak wood mushroom).
History
A brief history of shitake mushrooms
The first written documentation related to shitake cultivation is the book "Records of Longquan County", written by He Zhan in 1209 during the Song dynasty. The description in 185 words of the Shitake culture was subsequently reworked several times and definitively translated into Japan in 1796, thanks to the Japanese horticulturist Satō Chūryō.
The Japanese cultivated shitakes by cutting the trunks of shii trees (Genus Castanopsis ) and arranging them on others already affected by the fungus (rich in spores) to contaminate them. In the past, the traditional shitake variety of the Japanese Islands could only be grown in traditional places and using ancient methods. Only in 1982 did the cultivation opportunity open in the United States. Today, shitakes are widely grown all over the world and contribute about 25% of the annual mushroom production.
Shitake mushrooms are produced by recreating conditions similar to their natural environment, both on artificial substrates and on solid wood logs, such as oak.
