|
Originally Posted by moremoe
Is it tomorrow yet?
|
|
Originally Posted by moremoe
Is it tomorrow yet?
|
|
In popular culture * In Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, hobbits are quite fond of mushrooms. * In the Japanese anime Kujibiki Unbalance, the character Tokino is obsessed with mushrooms, and carries an encyclopedia of all of the world's mushrooms with her. * In the Super Mario Bros. series of video games, Mario and Luigi eat Super Mushrooms as power-ups that allow them to get bigger and stronger to defeat Goombas and Koopa Troopas more easily. This was inspired by Alice in Wonderland, as told by Shigeru Miyamoto to Reader's Digest. * Peyo's Smurfs live inside mushrooms. * Mushroom is often used as a term for a person who has been intentionally kept uninformed. This relates to the fungal variety tending to grow in the absence of light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The main types of mushrooms are agarics (the button mushroom, the most common mushroom eaten in many western countries), boletes, chanterelles, tooth fungi, polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. Mushrooms and other fungi are studied by mycologists. The "true" mushrooms are classified as Basidiomycota (also known as "club fungi"). A few mushrooms are classified by mycologists as Ascomycota (or "sac fungi"), the morel and truffle being good examples. Thus, the term mushroom is more one of common application to macroscopic fungal fruiting bodies than one having precise taxonomic meaning. There are approximately 14,000 described species of mushrooms; however, there is an estimated 1.5 million species of fungi, of which it is likely there are about 140,000 of species qualifying as mushrooms (Mushrooms, Cultivation, Nutritional Value, Medicinal Effect, and Environmental Impact by Chang and Miles, 2004) Edible mushrooms are used extensively in cooking, in many cuisines (notably Chinese, European and Japanese). Though commonly thought to contain little nutritional value, many varieties of mushrooms are high in fiber and protein, and provide vitamins such as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), biotin (B7), cobalamins (B12) and ascorbic acid (C), as well as minerals, including iron, selenium, potassium and phosphorus. However, a number of species of mushrooms are poisonous, and although some may resemble edible varieties, eating them could be fatal. Psilocybin mushrooms possess psychedelic properties. They are commonly known as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms", and are available in smart shops in many parts of the world (see Psychedelic mushroom). A number of other mushrooms are eaten for their psychoactive effects, such as fly agaric, which is used for shamanic purposes by tribes in northeast Siberia. Currently, many species of mushrooms and fungi utilized as folk medicines for thousands of years are under intense study by ethnobotanists and medical researchers. Maitake, shiitake, and reishi are prominent among those being researched for their potential anti-cancer, anti-viral, and/or immunity-enhancement properties. Psilocybin, originally an extract of certain psychedelic mushrooms, is being studied for its ability to help people suffering from mental disease, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Minute amounts have been reported to stop cluster and migraine headaches. It has also been used in the West to potentiate religious experience. Because of their psychoactive properties, some mushrooms have played a role in native medicine, where they have been used to effect mental and physical healing, and to facilitate visionary states. Shiitake mushrooms have been researched for their medicinal benefits, most notably their anti-tumor properties in laboratory mice. These studies, the earliest dating back to 1969, have also identified the polysaccharide lentinan, a (1-3) β-D-glucan, as the active compound responsible for the anti-tumor effects.[citation needed] Extracts from shiitake mushrooms have also been researched for many other immunological benefits, ranging from anti-viral properties to possible treatments for severe allergies, as well as arthritis.Lenthionine, a key flavor compound of shiitake, also inhibits platelet aggregation, so it is a promising treatment for thrombosis. |
I'd prefer something like this:
