Sunday, October 19, 2008

In the mushroom news...

Let's see, what's going on in the mushroom news this week.
First, the bad news: more mushroom poaching tales here and a bit more locally(Florida), here. People eating poisonous mushrooms. A Nebraska woman complained about the mold in her apartment, and was ignored until a mushroom was found growing out of her carpet. Note: Molds do not produce mushrooms. Both are fungi, and require damp conditions to sporulate (fruit), but they are NOT the same thing. No word on what kind of mushroom it was, of course. Could have been a morel!

Now the good news: Mushrooms provide some good nutrition, may even be considered a SUPERFOOD! And in other good news, an enzyme produced by many fungi, laccase, may serve as an important catalyst in fuel cells. Maybe some good environmental benefits from them fungi, eh?
And by next week we should know who the next Texas Mushroom Festival Queen will be!

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