They are not plants. They don’t come from animals. They are unique.
Edible mushrooms are the fruit of a fungal plant that lives in the ground or wherever it can find nourishment. The fungal plant develops from the mycelium, an intertwining of filaments called hyphae visible only under the microscope. The part that we see and consume, the actual mushroom, is also called carpophore (from the Greek “karpos” = fruit).
In order for the fungus to develop, it is necessary that two mycelia of the same species come into contact with each other, one behaving as a female gamete and the other as a male gamete. The environmental conditions for this meeting to take place are closely linked, as everyone knows, to humidity, in fact, mushrooms are easily found after rainy days.
Biologists trace the birth of fungi to the geological period of the Permian, dating back to about 360 million years ago.
Mushroom cultivation
The first attempts to grow mushrooms date back to 1600 in France. In Italy the first real attempts date back to the end of the nineteenth century, while mass production, in large concrete sheds, took place only in the fifties. The cultivation of mushrooms takes place in specialized greenhouses, where a specific compound containing the growing medium of the mushroom is placed in the cultivation beds and covered with peat, lime and water. Thanks to the particular climatic conditions, controlled with computerized systems, after about 20 days the first mushroom appears, and from that moment the compound creates 4 or 5 fruiting.
Nutritional qualities
Mushrooms contain 90% water, very little fat and carbohydrates, and 2-3% protein, and only 20 kcal per 100 g. Mushrooms are therefore an excellent choice in a low-calorie diet as they give a remarkable flavor to dishes with very few calories.
Variety of cultivated mushrooms
The species of mushrooms cultivated mainly in Italy are: Prataiolo or Champignon (photo above), about 78% of the total production, Plerotus Ostreatus (photo below), 20%; the remaining 2% is represented by other qualities, among which Agaricus and Pioppino stand out.
Buying Guide
Sapori del Mio Orto cultivated mushrooms are sold in eco-friendly cardboard trays of 300g; 14 are the references offered by the classic White Champignon, the Cream Mushroom, the fragrant Pleurotus, Portobello, the exotic Shitake and the majestic Cardoncello. The SIPO proposals also offer recipes such as Stuffed Mushrooms, Mushrooms Salad, Baked Mushrooms, Mixed Trifolare, White Sliced and Mixed Mushrooms.
