Mushrooms are conspicuous umbrella shaped fruiting body which belongs to the Sporophore family. They are typically of the order of Agaricales in the phylum Basidiomycota. They are typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source.
Although mushrooms are classified as vegetables, technically they are not plants but part of the kingdom called fungi.
Mushrooms are umbrella shaped Sporophores and consists of a cap (pileus) and a stalk (stripe). They emerge as an extensive underground network of threadlike strands (mycelium).
A clear example is the honey mushroom. They may live hundreds of years or die in a few months, depending on the available food supply.
Mushrooms share some traits with plants and animals. They are low in calories, have virtually no fat and no cholesterol, and are very low in sodium.
Below are some benefits of mushrooms.
• MAY SUPPORT GUT HEALTH.
Compounds in mushrooms, including beta glucan, appear to act as prebiotics, fueling the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and promoting a favourable gut environment. This is important because a healthy gut plays an important role in maintaining our immune defenses, digesting our food as well as communicating with the brain through nerves and hormones.
• MAY BE HELPFUL IN MAINTAINING HEART HEALTH.
Mushroom have been shown to have some therapeutic properties which may help lower cholesterol, particularly in overweight adults. They also contribute nutrients and sticking to blood vessel walls and forming plaque build-up. This in turn aids protect the heart by maintaining healthy blood pressure and circulation.
• CONTAIN IMMUNE MODULATING NUTRIENTS.
Mushrooms contain active polysaccharides, one of which is a type of soluble fibre called beta-glucan. This compound activates part of your immune system, including immune cells called natural killer cells and macrophages, and by so doing it increase your body’s ability to fight infection and possibly even stop the growth or progression of tumours.
REFERENCES:
1. Harding, Patrick (2008). Mushroom Miscellany. HarperCollins.
2. Britannica – The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica.
ARTICLE BY; ANUM JUSTICE OBODAI