Chapter 18 Chapter Five Understanding and Utilization of Fungi

The remains of fungi unearthed from the Neolithic site in Hemudu, Zhejiang, prove that our ancestors ate mushrooms in large quantities six to seven thousand years ago. "Erya · Shicao" first mentioned the names of fungi such as "苬 [xiu Xiuyangping] (that is, fungus) Zhi" and "Zhongkui [kui Kui] fungus".More than ten kinds of large fungi such as Zhizhi, Fuling, Yujun, Leiwan and so on are recorded.In particular, a further classification and description is made for the mushrooms, which are divided into green sesame, red sesame, yellow sesame, white sesame, purple sesame, black sesame, etc. according to the color of the fruiting body.

In the Song Dynasty, my country published the world's earliest monograph on edible fungi - "Mushroom Spectrum" (AD 1245).The author Chen Renyu is from Taizhou (now Linhai County, Zhejiang Province), and Taizhou is famous for producing high-quality delicious mushrooms. "Bacteria" is a description of the local specialties.A total of 11 kinds of bacteria are described in the book, and the growth, harvesting time, shape, color and taste of each kind of bacteria are explained to a certain extent. "Bacteria Spectrum" pointed out: "Amanita fungus grows in high mountains, looks like a goose, and spreads out after a long time. It tastes sweet and slippery, and does not thicken the paste (bacteria). However, it is confused with the fungus. The fungus is born in the soil. , as the saying goes, poisonous sting gas is formed, and eating it kills people... Anyone who is poisoned by it will laugh, and it is better to use bitter tea mixed with alum, spoon new water and swallow it, and it will heal immediately." Now we know that in the genus Amanita , some species such as the poison umbrella are extremely poisonous, while some species such as the green goose egg fungus are delicious and edible.But these two kinds of bacteria are very similar in appearance and are easy to confuse. Eating the wrong bacteria can be a life-threatening matter.People in the Song Dynasty have recognized them, which is not easy.The book "Guangjunpu" compiled by Pan Zhiheng in the Ming Dynasty describes 20 species of large fungi, which are produced in Southwest, South and North China.28 species of fungi were recorded, six of which were newly added by Li Shizhen, which greatly expanded the knowledge about fungi (Figure 13).Li Shizhen's description of various fungi is more detailed. Regarding mushrooms, he said: "Mushrooms come from various places in Shandong and Huaibei... they are two or three inches long. They are small and big, white and soft, and empty inside, like unopened hosta flowers. .” Here is a vivid description of the place of origin, size, shape and color of the mushroom.Another example is thick ointment fungus: "Growing in the mountains of Mengxi, soaked in the rain and zero dew in mid-autumn, the mountain ointment trees are plump, and the fungus flowers grow, and the end of the top tree is born, which is like pistil beads at the beginning, round and clear like light crisp dripping milk, light yellow It is white and has a sweet taste. It is as big as a palm and has a strong taste. It is born in spring and has little ointment.” This fully shows that the morphological ecology of these fungi was carefully observed at that time."Wu Mushroom Spectrum" written by Wu Lin in the early Qing Dynasty not only introduced eight kinds of edible mushrooms, but also explained in detail how to identify poisonous fungi.

There have been records about the cultivation of edible fungi in my country in the Han Dynasty.The cultivation method of mushrooms was described in detail in "Four Seasons Compendium" in the Tang Dynasty.The specific method is as follows: "Sow fungus in March, take rotten wood and leaves, and bury it in the ground. Often use swill to make it wet, and it will grow in two or three days." The wood can be six or seven feet long, cut off and broken down, like growing vegetables, spread evenly in the furrow, cover with soil. Water it for a long time to keep it moist. If there are small fungus in the beginning, push it up. It will come out again in Ming Dynasty, and it will be pushed away. The ones that come out after three degrees are very large, so they will be harvested..." This cultivation method is basically the same as the current cultivation method using sawdust.Shiitake mushroom is a food that everyone likes to eat, and its artificial cultivation has a long history. The cultivation technology of shiitake mushrooms was first recorded in "Wang Zhennongshu" in Yuan Dynasty, that is, "use shredded mushrooms [cuo] and spread them evenly in the pit". It is to use the fruiting body tissue block as the seeding material, which shows that my country has had a certain understanding of the breeding method of fungi very early.In "Wu Duan Bian" (1790 AD) written by Sato Yoshinobu, a Japanese herbalist in the Edo period, it is said that Japanese shiitake mushroom cultivation technology was passed down from China.Among the 10 kinds of edible fungi widely cultivated in the world today, most of them were cultivated in ancient my country.