Mushroom Facts (2024)

General

  • Mushrooms double in size every 24 hours.
  • Pennsylvania mushroom growers have William Swayne to thank for the long tradition of PA mushroom growing. The successful Kennett Square, PA, florist conceived the idea of growing mushrooms beneath his greenhouse benches in the late 1800s.
  • Mushrooms are 90% water
  • Mushrooms do not need sunlight to grow.
  • The most popular mushroom variety grown in the U.S. is white button, followed by crimini (brown or baby bellas), portabellas, enoki, oyster, maitake and shiitake.
  • Mushrooms are grown and harvested year-round.
  • Store mushrooms in original packaging or in a porous paper bag for prolonged shelf life.
  • To clean mushrooms, brush off any debris with fingers or a damp paper towel, or rinse briefly and pat dry with a paper towel.

How Mushrooms Grow

  • It takes about three weeks to produce the first mushrooms for harvest. Throughout the growing period, mushroom farmers play Mother Nature, manipulating water, airflow, temperature fluctuation and more.
  • Farmers combine materials like hay, straw, corn cobs, cocoa shells, and horse or chicken manure and place them in stacked wooden beds mixed with the spawn.
  • In a lab, cereal grains are inoculated with mushroom spores and incubated until they develop into spawn or ‘mushroom seeds.’
  • Every mushroom harvested in the U.S. is harvested by hand.

Nutrition

  • One Portabella mushroom has more Potassium than 1 medium banana.
  • Mushrooms are low in calories and sodium, and fat, cholesterol and gluten-free.
  • Scientists at City of Hope were some of the first to discover that mushrooms could suppress growth of breast cancer and prostate cancer cells in cell cultures and in animals. City of Hope researchers have conducted a small clinical trial in patients with prostate cancer.
  • Mushrooms are the leading source of the antioxidant nutrient selenium in the produce aisle. Antioxidants, like selenium, protect body cells from damage that might lead to chronic diseases and help to strengthen the immune system, as well. In addition, mushrooms provide ergothioneine, a naturally occurring antioxidant that may help protect the body’s cells.
  • Mushrooms are the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources.
  • All mushrooms contain some vitamin D, but mushrooms have the unique ability to increase vitamin D amounts due to UV-light or sunlight exposure. Similar to humans, mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D following exposure to sunlight or a sunlamp: mushrooms’ plant sterol – ergosterol – converts to vitamin D when exposed to light.

Sustainability

  • Mushroom growers are known as the ”ultimate recyclers“ for their ability to convert byproducts and waste from other sectors of agriculture into the compost or medium used to grow mushrooms. Because of this recycling of other agricultural crops and byproducts, mushroom farms have a smaller environmental footprint than almost any other farms.
  • Today’s growers use smart management and production practices that use less than 2 gallons of water to produce one pound of button mushrooms – that’s about 32 (8 oz) glasses of water to grow, harvest, and process an entire pound of mushrooms, compared with an average of 50 gallons of water per pound of other fresh produce items.
  • Mushrooms are a fairly low-energy footprint crop. Producing one pound of button mushrooms takes 1.0 kilowatt hour (kwh) of electricity. This is the same amount of energy (1 kwh) as it takes to run a coffeemaker for one hour each day.
  • From the compost recipe, all the way through to what you purchase in the store, one pound of mushrooms generates just 0.7 pounds of CO2 equivalents. By comparison, using one gallon of fuel emits nearly 20 pounds of CO2.
  • Mushrooms are grown year-round, across the nation, and don’t require much land. On average, one square foot of space in a mushroom bed can produce 6.55 pounds of mushrooms. One square foot is 144 square inches, or 4.5 red bricks in a patio– that’s a lot of production power in a small space.
  • One acre of land can produce 1 million pounds of mushrooms annually. In recent years, mushroom growers have produced just over 900 million pounds of Agaricus mushrooms each year. Put another way, one acre of land can produce enough mushrooms in a year to fill the length of nearly 4,700 football stadiums. Even more, 900 million pounds of mushrooms is enough to circle the circumference of the globe – mushroom cap to mushroom cap – 19 times!

Economic Impact (PA)

  • PA mushroom farms support more than 9,300 jobs and $313 million in compensation.
  • PA mushroom farms contribute $1.2 billion to the local economy.
  • Kennett Square, PA, has the largest concentration of mushrooms farms in the country. Nearly two-thirds of all mushroom production occurs in Southeastern PA.

Economic Impact (Nationwide)

  • U.S. mushroom farms support more than 21,000 jobs and $864 million in compensation.
  • U.S. mushroom farms contribute $3.3 billion to the economy.

Looking for mushroom recipes? Click here.

For additional information on mushrooms, their health benefits, recipes and more, visit the Mushroom Council.

Source: American Mushroom Institute, Mushroom Council

Mushroom Facts (2024)

FAQs

Mushroom Facts? ›

Mushrooms contain no chlorophyll and most are considered saprophytes. That is, they obtain their nutrition from metabolizing non living organic matter. This means they break down and "eat" dead plants, like your compost pile does.

What does mushroom eat? ›

Mushrooms contain no chlorophyll and most are considered saprophytes. That is, they obtain their nutrition from metabolizing non living organic matter. This means they break down and "eat" dead plants, like your compost pile does.

What is the main purpose of a mushroom? ›

In general, the mushroom helps the tree extract minerals and water from the soil; in exchange, the tree supplies the mushroom with sugar compounds (carbohydrates).

How old is the first mushroom? ›

According to a new study, the first mushrooms were already present on Earth between 715 and 810 million years ago, 300 million years earlier than the scientific community had believed until now.

What is a interesting fact about mushroom? ›

Mushrooms are a lot like plants, but they lack chlorophyll and have to take nutrients from other materials. Mushrooms are neither plants nor animals. They constitute their own kingdom: the Fungi. These include the familiar mushroom-forming species, as well as yeasts, molds, smuts, and rusts.

Can fungi glow in the dark? ›

Bioluminescent Fungi.

So far, scientists have discovered at least 81 out of 100,000 fungi worldwide with this remarkable ability. Therefore, only a small portion of known fungi produces light.

What mushroom lives for? ›

It explores how the world looks to the mushrooms, as well as to the people who have grown rich harvesting them. A surprise-filled journey into science and human culture, this exciting and provocative book shows how fungi shape our planet and our lives in strange, diverse, and often unimaginable ways.

Is it OK to eat a mushroom? ›

Mushrooms are a common and nutritious food, recognized around the world for their potential health benefits. With a range of safe, edible types to choose from, you can eat them in a sandwich, mix them into soups and salads or even substitute them for meat.

Is A mushroom a fruit or a plant? ›

No, they are a type of fungi. Technically mushrooms aren't plants, so they aren't classified as either fruits or vegetables. They belong to their own separate kingdom. But for practical purposes, we often treat mushrooms as vegetables in the kitchen in terms of how we prepare them.

Is mushroom a plant or meat? ›

Although considered a vegetable, mushrooms are neither a plant nor animal food. They are a type of fungus that contains a substance called ergosterol, similar in structure to cholesterol in animals.

What organ is mushroom good for? ›

May Help Protect Against Cancer

Other research has shown mushrooms may also be protective against cancers of the liver, uterus, pancreas, and stomach, as well as acute leukemia.

Which mushroom is the healthiest? ›

Some of the mushrooms considered best for human health include chaga, lion's mane, reishi, turkey tail, shiitake, cordyceps and maitake. Often considered vegetables, mushrooms are neither plants nor animals. They belong to a unique kingdom of fungi.

What is a billion year old mushroom? ›

The billion-year-old fungus, called Ourasphaira giraldae, provides clues about how life may have evolved on land. In a new study, researchers discuss how the discovery of fungi like this one, which are more closely related to animals than plants, could indicate that animal ancestors were around 1 billion years ago.

What is the rarest mushroom? ›

The most expensive mushroom in the world is the Yartsa Gunbu mushroom because of how rare it is and the belief that it's an aphrodisiac.

Who first ate a mushroom? ›

Mushroom use has firmly been identified from as early as the European Chalcolithic. The Chalcolithic Tyrolean Iceman “Ötzi” carried several types of fungi on his person.

What are some interesting fungi? ›

Fantastic Fungi
  • Witch's Butter (Tremella mesenterica) Witch's butter. ...
  • Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica) The dog vomit slime mold, also known as scrambled egg slime, is named after its distinct appearance. ...
  • Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantica) ...
  • Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) ...
  • Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea)

What is unique to only fungi? ›

A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment.

What are 2 positive things about fungi? ›

Some fungi are decomposers which mean that they break down plant and animal debris, thus cycling nutrient and increasing their availability in the soil. They can also propel nitrogen fixation and phosphorus mobilization, two of the main nutrients required for plant development and productivity.

What are the 5 important fungi? ›

Some important fungi in the agriculture industry are Fusarium, Chaetomium, Chytridium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus.

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