Fitness Gear: Test Your Mushroom IQ! - Fitness Training For Life

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Friday, August 22, 2008

By Joe Wilkes

September is National Mushroom Month! How well do you know your friendly fungi facts?

How many varieties of mushrooms exist? There are about 40,000 varieties of mushrooms. The button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), which is usually grown on farms, is the most popular. Crimini and portobello mushrooms are varieties of the button mushroom. Other popular edible mushrooms include chanterelles, morels, porcinis, shiitakes, oyster, and enoki. In the U.S. alone, there are over 10,000 species, but only 250 of them are edible. So, grazers, beware!

What has more potassium, a portobello mushroom or a banana? A portobello mushroom actually contains more potassium than a banana, and the banana's no slouch in the potassium department. However, it will probably be some time before we see tennis players munching on mushrooms between games to prevent cramping. Often considered to be nutritionally negligible, many varieties of mushrooms contain high levels of B vitamins, potassium, selenium, and phosphorus (some species even glow in the dark!). With practically no calories, why not indulge?

What is the most ever paid for a truffle? Stanley Ho, a casino owner from Macau, paid $330,000 for a 3.3-pound white truffle discovered near Pisa, Italy. October and November are prime truffle season; white truffles retail for around $1,500 to $3,000 a pound, and black truffles go for about $300 to $900 a pound. Pigs were traditionally used to find truffles as the scent of the truffle is similar to a boar sex hormone.

What is the largest mushroom on record? In eastern Oregon, there is a honey mushroom that covered 3.4 square miles of land when it was last measured, and it's still growing.

What is Quorn? Quorn is the brand name of a mycoprotein product made from fungus. Only approved by the Food and Drug Administration for sale in the U.S. in 2002, it has been a popular meat substitute in Europe since the 1980s. It is rich in protein and fiber but low in fat and cholesterol. It is mostly sold in frozen food dishes like faux meatballs and chicken nuggets.

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