Mushroom

• The word mushroom is often applied to the white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporust. These are round, smooth and ivory colored.
• Mushroom is the fleshy, spore bearing fruiting body of a fungus (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes).
• Button mushroom has a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae) on the underside of the cap.
• White button mushrooms contain virtually no fat, few kilojoules, are cholesterol-free and packed with a range of vitamins, minerals and cancer-fighting antioxidants.
• Mushrooms are a prime natural source of the antioxidant ergothioneine. In fact, researchers have found that white button mushrooms have about 12 times more of the antioxidant than wheat germ and four times more than chicken liver. These foods were previously considered to be the primary source of the antioxidant.
• Results of a study by researchers at Tufts University in the States also suggest that white button mushrooms may promote innate immunity against tumors and viruses by enhancing natural killer cell activity.
• Mushrooms are a useful source of vitamins B1, B2 and B6, folic acid, niacin, iron, and potassium.