Subject: Dried Armillariella Mellea poisonous?

From: [email-masked]
Date: 11 Sep 1995 06:48:25 GMT

Subject:  Dried Armillariella Mellea poisonous.

Conclusion:
Armillaria Mellea contains a poison that is destroyed on cooking
but is concentrated with drying.

I was fortunate, when gathering for the table, to find a large fruiting
of Armillaria Mellea and I gathered about five pounds.  We ate these
mushrooms cooked with no reactions and then I decided to dry the remainder
for future use.

When they were dry my wife took one off the drying rack and ate it.  She said,
"Boy, that was delicious."  She then ate a second.  Later, after recovering from 
the poisoning she explained that shortly after eating the second one she had 
experienced a strong after taste.

While packaging the dried mushrooms, I also sampled one and experienced
the strong acidic after taste.  Within three hours we both experienced nausea,
general digestive upset, a slight increase in heart rate, and in my case chills.
All symptoms were gone within 12 hours.

I have been gathering and studying mushrooms since 1973.  I am sure of my
identification and can provide samples to anyone who doubts the identity or
needs them to look for the toxin.  This is my only personal experience with
mushroom posoning and I must admit it was a stupid mistake.  On the other
hand, the only guide that indicates that these mushrooms must be cooked is
the Audubon guide by Lincoff.  Millar in "Mushrooms of America" and Smith in
"A Field Guide to Westerm Mushrooms" simply list them as choice.  David Aurora
in "Mushrooms Demystified" and Groves in "edible and poisonous mushrooms of
canada" both point out that the bitter flavour is removed by cooking.  All of the
guides wisely state that all mushrooms should be cooked and not eaten raw.

These were large specimens and they dried to a very small size so we fooled
ourselves when we tried them dry into thinking we were eating a small amount
of mushroom.  In addition some toxins, such as Monomethylhydrazine are volatile
and destroyed by drying.

I would suggest to individuals revising or writing new field guides that they
list Armillariella Mellea as poisonous when raw or dried, and choice only when
well cooked.

Does anyone have any idea what the agent that might have caused
the poisoning is?

Thanks

Otto
[email-masked]
(360) 385-1956

---

From: [email-masked] (David Thielk)
Date: 14 Sep 1995 04:12:48 GMT

> but is concentrated with drying.

Otto,

I picked up your note on the mycology newsgroup.  I hunt quite a bit, and
this is an excellent year.  I was up on the Dungeness a couple of weeks
ago and picked Matsutake and hedgehog mushrooms.   I have also found
numerous, and quite large, giant pufballs and giant horse mushrooms.

Because I pick mushrooms with my children, I tell them (and any adult who
asks for advice) never to eat mushrooms raw.  That way my kids will never
pick and eat mushrooms before my wife and I see them.  

By the way, I have heard that some people respond to the honey mushroom
(A. mellea) in the manner you described.  Perhaps it is some sort of
volatile toxin that is destroyed in cooking.  There is a large crop of
them growing every year here in Port Townsend, but I don't eat them from
this spot because I think they property owners use chemicals in their
yard.

David Thielk

---

From: [email-masked] (Gareth Renowden)
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:18:00 +0000

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
(David Thielk) wrote:

> volatile toxin that is destroyed in cooking.
> 
> David Thielk

Antonio Carluccio, the London-based Italian restaurateur, fungophile and
author of A Passion for Mushrooms (an excellent cookbook), rates A. mellea
very highly, but always blanches them before cooking (ie, briefly immerses
them in boiling water), stating that this destroys a mild poison that can
cause stomach upsets in some people.

-- 
Gareth Renowden                      l
Publishing & marketing consultant    l  "I don't know what I want,
Voice +44 (0)181 241 4852            l     but I want it NOW!"
Fax +44 (0)181 943 4294              l    Sir Henry Rawlinson
e-mail [email-masked]         l     (c) Viv Stanshall

---

From: [email-masked] (BrianMc)
Date: 14 Sep 1995 14:35:50 -0400

According to Dr. Denis Banjamin's "Mushrooms poisons and panaceas" the
toxins which produce the usual gastrioinstenial upset are not known.  His
references are in German, and I was unable to persue them.  He follows up
by saying that an antibiotic (melleolide) has been isolated from A. mellea
mycelium.

Always remember that most field guides define A. mellea as a species
"complex".  There are at least 14 distinct species within the genus, all
highly similar macroscopically.  Having said that, I must also note that
morphology is highly variable wihtin individual species of Armillaria (the
genus Armillariella is considered obsolete (much to the dismay of us
amatuers, yes?)).
----------------------------------------------------------
| Brian McNett                   e-mail: <[email-masked]>
| Editor: MycoInfo      <[email-masked]>
|                          Submissions: <[email-masked]> 
|        Promoting Mycology in the Online Community