Never underestimate power of mushrooms

BOB FILA / CHICAGO TRIBUNE

BY DR. LESLIE BAUMANN

DRB@DRBAUMANN.COM

Every other week I hear something new and amazing about the medicinal and cosmetic benefits of mushrooms. The latest is a study out of Tufts University in Massachusetts, where researchers found that eating white button mushrooms can boost the body's immune system and protect against viruses and tumors. Mushrooms are so powerful that scientists are now looking to see if they can be used to fight influenza -- good news, with the fear of a flu pandemic looming on the horizon.

Extracts of medicinal mushrooms long have been used in China, Japan and Korea to treat disorders ranging from allergies, arthritis and bronchitis to cancer, especially of the stomach, esophagus and lungs. Today, scientists are finding that those ancient healers might have been on to something.

More research is needed to discover the potential cosmetic benefits of mushrooms, as well. And not just button mushrooms -- there are literally thousands of species, many of which could have their own unique healing properties. We already know that mushrooms are anti-inflammatory, making them a great weapon against inflammatory skin conditions like acne, rosacea and eczema.

As well as being high in vitamin D and selenium, mushrooms are loaded with antioxidants, which are proven to help protect your skin against wrinkles caused by sun exposure. But if you're not crazy about mushrooms -- or you just don't eat enough of them -- there are still plenty of ways to take advantage of their benefits. I love Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Plantidote Mega-Mushroom Supplement, which comes in a little medicine dropper bottle you can toss in your purse so the immune system booster is handy when you need it.

There are some great mushroom topical products on the market, as well. In addition to its Mega-Mushroom drops, Origins also makes an eye serum that combines mushrooms with fellow antioxidants ginger, turmeric and resveratrol, and Aveeno's Active Naturals Positively Ageless Rejuvenating Serum is designed to promote cell renewal and improve signs of photoaging.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/25/1789539/never-underestimate-power-of-mushrooms.html#ixzz0xarFfvPX

Mushroom, mists and mellow fruitfulness

Hares and hedgerows as autumn comes early to the summerhouse

Scandinavian autumn woods are packed with fat porcini (ceps)

If the old saw holds about an abundance of berries heralding a coming cold winter then the Danish coast (where the summerhouse is) is set for another corker.

Banks of sweet smelling rugosa line the coast

Have never seen the hedgerows bursting with so many brambles, hazels, crab apples, red and yellow mirabellas. But this being Scandinavia only the rugosa hips are ready to pick. Though if not yet fruit, then fungus.

Spot the toad

You can see where the Noma guys get their inspiration as the woods and roadsides are a forager's dream. Here you see boletus of every description, though our favourites are still the ceps.

Anyone know the name of this meadow flower please?

Short and squat with fat creamy bodies (the mushrooms, not me), we pretty much stick to eating them on toast, perhaps with parsley and garlic, though this year's first harvest made for a perfect omelette – the shrooms' sweet woody flavours thrumming in fresh, proper farm eggs.

A handful of hedgerow

Our few apples and pears are not ready yet either but our first blackcurrants made for a lip-smacking jam, cooked just this side of sharp.

Our first blackcurrant jam

Butterflies, beetles and dragonflies of every hue too, acid green dragonflies, for all the world like Apocalypse Now 'copters (you almost expect a Wagner or Hendrix soundtrack) mating on the wing.

Blue butterflies fill the beach hedges

Huge green flying beetles crash into the wondows and lie stunned upside down. Delicate blue butterflies and bees making the most of the heather and thistle flowers (we would cycle though clouds of thistle 'fairies).

Barley for Danish beer

The farmers are just starting harvest with oat, wheat and barley fields the colour of posh people's cords.

Bee making the most of late summer

Tiny little spider webs in the morning grass like Thai fishing nets, with frogs and toads jumping happily arounds. In the evening, big raspberry and rhubarb skies with rolling sea mists colonising the hollows.

Another unknown flower, sorry. Suggestions?

But back now and on to the allotment tomorrow with Howard. How is everyone and their gardens?

---- Guardian UK

Mushrooms used to make eco-friendly packaging

Mycobond, a composite material made from mushroom roots and agricultural waste, is grown around structures to create customized packaging.

A new type of packaging made from the roots of mushrooms consumes only a fraction of the resources used to make traditional foam packaging.
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By LiveScience Staff / July 28, 2010

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In addition to tomatoes and peppers, your next garden could grow packaging materials.

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A new product made out of agricultural waste and mushroom roots is now showing up in shipped products across the country. The composite material, called Mycobond™, requires just one-eighth the energy to produce and generates one-tenth the carbon dioxide of traditional foam packing material.

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Now Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute undergraduates Gavin McIntyre and Eben Bayer are developing a new, less energy-intensive method to sterilize the agricultural waste, killing spores that could otherwise compete with the mushrooms.

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Instead of steam heat, the new sterilization method will involve cinnamon-bark oil, thyme oil, oregano oil and lemongrass oil.

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"The biological disinfection process simply emulates nature in that it uses compounds that plants have evolved over centuries to inhibit microbial growth," McIntyre said. "The unintended result is that our production floor smells like a pizza shop."

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Here's how the green product grows: The mycelia (vegetative part of a fungus, like a mushroom) grow around and digest agricultural starter material, such as cotton seed or wood fiber in a dark environment at room temperature. The materials are shaped by a customized, molded plastic structure in which they grow.

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Once fully formed, each piece goes through the sterilization process. With the new cinnamon-bark treatment, Bayer and McIntyre hope the entire process can be packaged as a kit, allowing shipping facilities, and even homeowners, to grow their own green packaging materials.

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McIntyre and Bayer founded Ecovative Design of Green Island, N.Y., to bring their idea into production. Ecovative has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), USDA Agricultural Research Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

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----- The Christian Science Monitor

Wawancara Bersama En. Zul Cendawan Puchong - revisited

Hari ini saya berbesar hati kerana En. Zul dari Cendawan Puchong merangkap penceramah kursus cendawan sudi meluangkan masa untuk diwawancara oleh Cendawan Global bagi mengenali lebih dekat lagi latar belakang beliau dan tip-tip bisnes cendawan.
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Cendawan Global: Boleh ceritakan serba sedikit latar belakang saudara, keluarga, kerjaya dan sejarah penglibatan dalam perusahaan cendawan ini?
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En. Zul : Saya merupakan seorang Senior Officer di salah sebuah syarikat swasta di Bandar Baru Bangi. Berkelulusan dalam Ijazah Sarjana Muda Ekonomi di UKM (1999). Berkeluarga dan mempunyai 2 orang anak. Isteri saya merupakan seorang pensyarah di UNITEN. Namun begitu saya juga merupakan salah seorang penanam cendawan tiram kelabu di Puchong.
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Saya bermula pada Mei 2006 iaitu dengan menyertai kursus Tanaman Cendawan yang dianjurkan oleh Pertubuhan Peladang Johor Bahru Selatan. Pada bulan Jun saya terus memulakan perniagaan ini dengan melakukan survey dan marketing. Saya juga ada membeli beberapa beg cendawan untuk testing. Setelah begitu yakin dengan potensi yang ada dan dah dapat market kat mana nak jual maka, saya mula melakukan pembinaan bangsal cendawan, membeli beg cendawan, daftar syarikat dan sebagainya.

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Cendawan Global : Sudah berapa lama mengusahakan penanaman cendawan secara komersil?

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En. Zul : Saya bermula pada Jun 2006 hingga ke hari ini iaitu hampir setahun setengah.

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Cendawan Global : Kenapa pilih cendawan tiram kelabu?

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En. Zul : Cendawan Tiram Kelabu, adalah salah satu daripada 12 jenis cendawan yang boleh dikomersialkan di Negara ini. Namun begitu, dari segi pasaran dan permintaan, cendawan Tiram ini mendapat pasaran dan permintaan yang sangat baik. Ini kerana hampir semua komuniti di Negara ini sangat sebati dan menyukai cendawan jenis ini kerana rasanya yang sangat manis dan berkhasiat tinggi. Jadi atas factor-faktor inilah yang menjadi pendorong bagi saya untuk mengusahakan tanaman jenis ini.

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Cendawan Global : Apakah prospek tanaman cendawan di Malaysia dan boleh beri komen berdasarkan pemerhatian dan pengalaman saudara?

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En. Zul : Mengikut statistic yang dikeluarkan oleh kerajaan menunjukkan bahawa, kerajaan masih lagi mengimport cendawan termasuk cendawan Tiram. Ini menunjukkan bahawa, permintaan ke atas cendawan sudah melebihi penawaran. Oleh yang demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahawa, industri tanaman cendawan ini sangat berpotensi besar untuk menjana pendapatan yang lumayan dan boleh dijadikan satu kerjaya oleh mereka yang berminat.

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Cendawan Global : Berapakah kos permulaan saudara mulakan dari awal?

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En. Zul : Saya memulakan projek ini dengan modal sebanyak RM15,000. Di mana sebanyak RM5,000 untuk pembinaan bangsal (20” x 25”), Beli beg cendawan matang RM5,000 dan baki RM5,00 untuk cash flow dan perbelanjaan lain seperti bil air dan elec, plastic membungkus cendawan dan sebagainya.

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Cendawan Global : Biasanya, ramai yang mengatakan cendawan sensitif kepada penyakit, boleh beri ulasan?

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En. Zul : Penyakit!!!, semua benda hidup akan berdepan dengan penyakit! Baik manusia, haiwan dan ternakan. Tetapi bagi saya, cendawan ini mudah ditanam dan mudah dijaga apatah lagi untuk dituai. Jika sudah cukup 2 bulan ia diperam, maka tumbuhlah cendawan ini walaupun beg cendawan tidak begitu sempurna rupanya. Asalkan, kita menjaga 3 asas utama iaitu menjaga dari segi kelembapan, kegelapan dan suhu bangsal. Saya juga ada mengguna sejenis baja yang sangat membantu saya dalam projek tanaman ini iaitu EM (Effective Microb). Baja ini sangat murah dan sangat efektif dalam menghasilkan cendawan yang sihat, besar, berat, tahan penyakit serta memanjangkan hayat cendawan. Ia merupakan baja organic semulajadi yang dicipta oleh Prof. dari Jepun pada 20 tahun yang lalu. Hampir 116 buah Negara telah menggunakannya termasuklah Malaysia.

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Cendawan Global : Bagaimana untuk pasarkan cendawan?

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En. Zul : Sebagai pengusaha kita perlulah tahu bagaimana dan dimana kita hendak pasarkan hasil keluaran kita. Jadi dalam hal ini, marketing sangat penting. Para usahawan perlulah melakukan survey, tanya setiap pekedai sayur sama ada sudi atau tidak memebeli hasil kita, pergi ke super market dan tanya taukeh mereka dan sebagainya. Muka kena tebal sikit baru boleh menjual. Kalau boleh jual terus kepada end user seperti menjual di pasar malam, pasar pagi, pasar minggu atau pasar tani dan borong.

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Cendawan Global : Di mana untuk dapatkan bekalan bahan-bahan tanaman cendawan?

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En. Zul : Segala bentuk bahan mentah boleh didapati dari pengusaha-pengusaha Cina yang dah lama bertapak dalam industri ini. Untuk mendapatkan bekalan benih, plastic, stopper, neck, top, kapur dan dedak anda boleh beli dari Vita Agrotech Tg Sepat Morib (03-31975600), Kuan Damansara (019-2613107) atau Lau Klang (016-3135977). Saya juga ada menjual beg cendawan berbenih dengan harga RM1.10 setiap beg. Baja EM juga saya ada jual dengan harga RM5 setiap botol 500ml.

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Cendawan Global : Matlamat saudara dalam bisnes ini?

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En. Zul : Matlamat utama saya ialah ingin berjaya dalam industri tanaman cendawan ini dan menjadikan ianya satu lagi kerjaya kepada saya.

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Cendawan Global : Perancangan masa hadapan saudara untuk bisnes ini?

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En. Zul : Sudah pastinya saya ada perancangan masa hadapan di mana saya akan pastikan projek tanaman cendawan saya ini terus berkembang dengan jayanya. Saya juga bercadang untuk membesarkan lagi perniagaan ini supaya saya dapat menampung keperluan setempat. Kepada mereka yang ingin berkongsi ilmu daripada saya, bolehlah datang berkursus di farm saya supaya lebih ramai lagi usahawan-usahawan baru menceburi bidang ini.
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Cendawan Global : Terima kasih kerana sudi meluangkan masa dan berkongsi cerita tentang cendawan dengan kami. Selamat maju jaya.
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En. Zul : Sama-sama.

Wet weather prompts mushroom bloom in Minnesota

And whatever you do, don't eat 'em — they can make you sick

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By Dave Orrick

dorrick@pioneerpress.com

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Minnesota's June monsoon has led to a mushroom boom and a flood of calls to the state's poison control hotline.

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In the past two weeks, as a curtain of dampness enveloped much of the state and fungi sprouted, the Minnesota Poison Control System has received more than 50 calls related to mushroom-eating, said Dr. David Roberts, the system's medical director.

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The usual number this time of year: zero.

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No serious illnesses have been reported. Although those little brown toadstools in your yard are considered inedible, they don't generally cause more than an upset stomach ... and upset parents.

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"The symptoms have ranged from nausea to diarrhea to no symptoms," Roberts said. Those 'no symptoms' are from parents whose children played around in a patch of mushrooms and maybe took a bite, prompting a call to the hot line.
Calling the 24-hour hot line — 800-222-1222 — is the right thing to do, he said. "With mushrooms, it's always better to be safe."

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The wet weather has prompted shroom blooms in normally sunny areas where residents might never have seen mushrooms before, but Roberts said the fungus is actually always present in the soil throughout the state.

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"It doesn't need to sprout regularly to survive," he said. "But you get the right conditions, and it will sprout for sure. Like now."

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Doctors generally refer to the mushrooms in question simply as "LBMs," for "little brown mushrooms," and in most cases, the advice after having just a bite is to simply keep an eye on the muncher. Only one of the 50 calls was linked to a patient sick enough to be referred to a hospital.

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The other potentially troublesome mushroom this time of year is a possible look-alike to the coveted morel. The morel-picking season is winding down, and so far no poisonings have been reported. The most dangerous mushroom in Minnesota is arguably the amanita bisporedia, or "destroying angels," which grows in the fall and can be fatal. It has led to deaths locally among southeast Asians who confuse it with a similar-looking but safe mushroom from southeast Asia.

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DON'T EAT THE MUSHROOMS

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The little brown mushrooms in your yard are NOT edible. If your kids eat one, call the Minnesota Poison Control System's hotline: 800-222-1222.

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--- Twincities