Prickly raincoat (Lycoperdon perlatum Pers) is a dusty macromycete. He has a very exotic appearance. Therefore, many are wondering if the mushroom is edible raincoat? It has a much greater ability than other mushrooms to accumulate toxins from the environment. However, despite this property, the raincoat mushroom is edible.
The ability to accumulate harmful compounds led to the fact that this macromycete was once used to clean soils after environmental pollution. The same quality was the reason for the creation on its basis of various dietary supplements that remove toxins from the body. Macromycete is also used for the manufacture of cosmetic products. Although the mushroom raincoat is edible, it is not recommended to eat specimens that grow in areas of environmental disasters and close to harmful industrial plants.
Description
A real raincoat is a mushroom with a rounded closed, sometimes pear-shaped fruit body and a pseudopod. It belongs to the Champignon family. The leg of macromycete smoothly passes into a hat. The pulp of the fungus is a homogeneous dense elastic-fleshy tissue. As they grow older in the gleb, the formation of cavities lined with hymen occurs. Later they are destroyed and emit a powdery mass of spores, which are colored from brown to dark green. Although the mushroom raincoat is edible, it is not recommended to eat it at this stage. In the upper part of the macromycete an opening is formed for the release of spore powder. The fruiting body of this fungus, as a rule, has a height of 4-8 cm. It can be painted in all shades of white, sometimes it is grayish or yellowish. The upper part of the fruiting body is covered with thorns.
Mushroom picker attitude and culinary properties
The raincoat has many popular names: tobacco mushroom, rabbit potato, damn tavlinka, dust coat, grandfather tobacco, etc. These nicknames are somewhat neglectful, which expresses the attitude of “silent hunters” to this macromycete. And indeed, despite the fact that the mushroom is raincoat edible, a rare mushroom picker will stop near it. Old copies are not suitable for food. Throwing away spore powder, they turn into a kind of wet rag. However, at a young age (with unformed hymenia), the raincoat mushroom is edible and also very tasty. Moreover, it does not need to be soaked and pre-boiled before frying, pickling or salting.
Habitat
An ordinary raincoat can be found in deciduous and coniferous forests, in the steppe, in meadows. This mushroom often grows on manicured soils, rotten stumps and forest litter. It is widely distributed throughout almost the entire European part of the Russian Federation. Collect it from spring to autumn.
Beneficial features
Since ancient times, people have known the antiseptic and hemostatic properties of this fungus. For wounds and cuts, an adult raincoat must be cut and applied to the damaged area. As a result, blood stops quickly, and in the future there is no suppuration. Employees of chemical plants and other harmful industries are encouraged to include this mushroom in their diet. This helps prevent diseases such as sarcoidosis and pneumoconiosis.