Experts assure that even “cultivated” mushrooms sold in supermarkets are fraught with danger. After all, this is a protein product, which means it is perishable, like fish or meat.
Therefore, in mushrooms plucked more than a week ago, protein decomposition occurs, as a result of which toxic substances are formed in their pulp. Having tasted such mushrooms, you can permanently undermine the work of your gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, when buying, pay attention to the appearance of champignons or oyster mushrooms.
Fresh mushrooms do not have spots and brownish stains on the surface of the cap. It should be elastic and, if we are talking about champignons, not fully opened. If you have a mushroom in front of you, in which the cut of the leg has darkened, has become hollow inside, and dark brown membranes are visible under the cap, then it is old and toxic. It’s clearly not worth buying.
If the fresh mushrooms you bought turned out to be “forgotten” for a week or two in the refrigerator, do not hesitate to throw them in the trash: they have already lost their freshness. No less careful should be treated with dried mushrooms. Do not buy them from random people on the market, but carefully check those prepared on your own: whether mold or worms have chosen them.
Be especially careful with canned mushrooms. The fact is that in a hermetically sealed jar there is no access to oxygen, and it is these conditions that are the ideal environment for the development of botulinum toxin. Just one mushroom from such a dysfunctional jar can cause a tragedy. After all, the causative agents of botulism paralyze the central nervous system of a person and often lead to his death.