Now we will tell you how to check if mushrooms are poisonous. There are different ways. We will consider them. They will be useful to housewives and mushroom pickers.
Even on a dreary cloudy day, the forest looks unusually beautiful. A slow walk along it will help to forget about the daily bustle for a while and immerse yourself in the magical atmosphere of the wild. He is generous with his gifts - picking berries and mushrooms brings not only pleasure, but also benefits, because many villagers experience harsh winters thanks to the supplies they make from early spring to late autumn. Citizens go to the forest more often to relax, so not everyone knows how to distinguish a poisonous mushroom from an edible one.
How not to poison yourself?
A variety of dishes with mushrooms are present in almost all cuisines of the world. However, you should not engage in independent gathering if you are not sure of the accuracy of your knowledge and the ability to distinguish edible from poisonous. Observing the period (1 day) and storage conditions (in a cool place without direct sunlight). You can safely cook a delicious product.
Tip: mushrooms are not cooked or stored in aluminum, zinc, ceramic glassware with glaze to prevent oxidation or the reaction of some substances contained in them with the glassware.
A careful attitude to a quiet hunt, as mushroom pickers call the collection of nature gifts, will help to avoid poisoning. Take only those that you know well. Do not pick mushrooms near a highway, railroad track or industrial plant.
You came from the forest, you feel pleasant tiredness, and only the mushrooms collected, beckoning the smell, are waiting for processing on the table. And here you understand that you are not sure that they can be eaten. And how to check whether a poisonous mushroom or not, at home? There are many ways to do this. But, unfortunately, to determine whether there is poison among the collected mushrooms is reliably impossible.
Here are a few options to help you verify. Also, in parallel, we will consider myths.
Silver and garlic
How to check whether a poisonous mushroom or not? It is said that a silver object can be dipped in a pot with this product. And in the event that the silver darkens, then there is a poisonous mushroom. But this theory is not 100%. Since a reaction may occur with a substance that is secreted from edible fungi.
The changed color of garlic added during cooking, also one hundred percent does not confirm the presence of dangerous stalks. After all, a reaction with the tyrosinase ferment could occur, again.
Insects
It is believed that insects do not even sit on poisonous mushrooms. This is not entirely true. Some sit down and even eat them. It’s just that in nature there are insects resistant to poisons.
Taste and smell
Some people think that poisonous mushrooms are tasteless and smell bad. Is that so? You can’t say exactly. After all, there are several types of grebes and fly agarics that smell very nice and quite tasty (you should not do the test yourself, as this information was obtained thanks to the sad experience of careless tasters).
Fermentation or coagulation of milk
How to check whether a poisonous mushroom or not? Have you heard somewhere that milk will turn sour or curl if poison enters it? Yes, it can be. But this can also happen only because of the enzyme pepsin, which is found in both normal and dangerous mushrooms .
Salt and vinegar
You can defuse some mushrooms in the following way. It is necessary to boil them in salted water with the addition of vinegar. Some conditionally toxic mushrooms, for example, stitches, can indeed be neutralized in this way. But here are very toxic species, like pale toadstool, will still remain deadly.
Alcohol will not help!
It is widely believed among the population that if you drink mushroom dishes with alcohol, then, if poison enters the body, the latter can be neutralized due to this. This myth is one of the most dangerous. Because alcohol only enhances the effects of toxins. Such actions increase the risk of death.
How to check if mushrooms are poisonous during cooking?
You can use the following folk method. You only need the onion. So how to check poisonous mushrooms? When boiling these foods, throw the onion, cut in half, into the pan. If the vegetable turns blue, then the mushrooms must be discarded, as they are poisonous. Such products can be seriously poisoned.
How to check whether a poisonous mushroom or not? As can be seen from the many verification methods, it is difficult to reliably find out about this. Remember that the use of such anti-scientific methods can be fatal!
How to provide first aid for mushroom poisoning?
If, nevertheless, a disaster occurs, you should immediately contact a medical institution by calling an ambulance. Prior to the arrival of the ambulance, your actions can not only ease the suffering of the victim, but also save his life. Act clearly and quickly:
- Do not panic.
- Gastric lavage and induce artificial vomiting several times.
- The victim should be conveniently placed in a horizontal position and covered with a blanket.
- Continuous fractional drinking will help prevent dehydration and fight toxins. To do this, you need to drink milk, salted or just plain water.
- Someone must be constantly near the patient in order to ensure that the victim is conscious, and to give ammonia to smell in case of loss of consciousness, otherwise a coma may occur.
Little conclusion
So how to check mushrooms, poisonous or edible? Mushroom pickers have one rule: “If there is even a slight doubt that the mushroom is edible, then we interpret it as poisonous.” Many edible specimens have very similar doubles.
Therefore, without having previously studied the classification and parameters of mushrooms, it is not worthwhile to independently go into the forest for them. The best way out is to buy mushrooms in a store where you can talk about their quality and suitability with 100% certainty. And you will not need to give up your favorite delicacies!