Recently, a woman in Zhejiang found that a mushroom had grown on an apple at home, which attracted the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to "seek fungi", and the woman sent this "king of fruit mushrooms" for research. On July 9, researchers gave a definition of the mushroom, which is called the schizophyllum (white ginseng), which generally grows on rotting wood. On July 11, the new research progress was "reported" online......
Mushrooms grow on apples
Attracted the Chinese Academy of Sciences to "seek bacteria for thousands of miles"
Recently, the rainy weather in Zhejiang has ended, and the hot weather continues. Xiao Deng accidentally found that an apple at home was a little whitish, thinking that it was hairy, but after a closer look, he found that there was actually a mushroom growing on it. The family thought it was amazing and decided to keep it and continue to observe.
Xiao Deng posted a video of an apple mushroom growing on the Internet to consult netizens: Is this the so-called "apple mushroom"?
The video immediately attracted the amazement of netizens, who said that they had never seen an apple grow a mushroom, and some netizens said: "I feel that this apple has research value." ”
On the evening of July 6, professionals from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, contacted Xiao Deng and said that they wanted to buy the apple for research. Xiao Deng generously gave it, and the next day the apple was sent to Yunnan by express, spanning more than 2,000 kilometers to the Biodiversity Laboratory of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Netizens are full of curiosity
I want to know what "apple mushroom" tastes like
Apple mushrooms have sparked many conjectures on the Internet, and some netizens said "This mushroom must be delicious", guessing whether it is oyster mushroom flavor or apple flavor? There are also netizens who are "full of steamed eggs with white ginseng". Some netizens are concerned about "can it be mass-produced"? Some netizens said that there are bench mushrooms at home, can they also send them for observation?
The speculation of netizens is really right, the schizophrenia is really edible!
Schizophyllum fungi, also known as white ginseng fungus (Yunnan), tree flower (Shaanxi), chicken hair fungus (north), fan-shaped or kidney-shaped, white or off-white, sometimes light purple, longitudinal and retorted along the edge, is a rare mushroom that is used both food and medicine. It has a soft and delicate texture, delicious taste, and contains special fragrance, high nutritional value, rich in amino acids and essential trace elements, and is a protein source with good protein content and quality.
There are about 11 species in the genus Schizomyces in the world, and according to the 2024 edition of Chinese biodiversity, there are 5 species in China, distributed in Zhejiang, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Guangdong, Guangxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Tibet, Hainan and other provinces in China. In spring and autumn, it grows on broad-leaved trees or fallen trees, dead branches, and sometimes on inverted rotten trees of conifers, and grows alone to in groups, often growing on fungus, shiitake mushrooms, and white fungus segments.
The fruit has a schizophyllum fungus
What causes it?
How does the fungus grow in apples?
Fruit-long mushrooms are indeed rare. Pu Jinbao, a macrofungal expert and director of the Medicinal Resources Research Center of the Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that it is the first time that schizoid fungi have grown on apples. He analyzed that the schizomyces often grow on the trunks of fruit trees, which may be brought by the original branches of apples, or it may be that there are schizomycete spores in the environment where apples are stored.
"Very interesting", "very strong" and "valuable for research" are the comments of Dr. Xu Rongju of the Biodiversity Laboratory of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, on this "apple mushroom" when he first saw it.
Dr. Xu speculated that some time ago, Zhejiang had been in the rainy season, and the temperature and humidity were relatively high, which was very suitable for the growth of Schizoatillus.
It may be that the spores of white ginseng fall on the apple in the natural environment or during storage, and due to the wound of the apple, the spores of the schizophyllum first infect the stalk of the apple, and then gradually spread downward to the pit. When the temperature and humidity are suitable for the growth of the schizophylla, the fruiting body can grow from the top of the apple.
It is also possible that white ginseng first infects the apple tree and then spreads into the apple fruit.
In 2016, Tunisia reported that Schizophyllum can cause apple wood rot, and in 1970, foreign scholars did experiments to inoculate the mycelium of Schizophyllum into apples and successfully grew fruiting bodies.
White ginseng is an edible mushroom
Is "apple mushroom" apple-flavored?
Dr. Xu said that the growth of mushrooms is mainly related to temperature and humidity, and white ginseng, as an important edible mushroom, has great cultivation value and economic value.
In general, he explains, the taste of the mushroom is affected by the growth substrate, but more so from the amino acids or other chemicals of the mushroom itself.
As for whether netizens are concerned about whether they can grow "apple-flavored white ginseng", unless it can be determined that the mycelium of white ginseng can grow entirely from the pulp of apples, it is unlikely.
Secondly, it is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that if the mycelium of white ginseng really infects the flesh of the apple or the tree itself, it is necessary to be vigilant, as white ginseng may have an impact on apple planting. There are also studies that claim to infect plants and infect humans or animals.
As a very strong fungus, white ginseng can be both edible and medicinal fungi and plant pathogens, and can also infect humans or animals
On July 11, @Awesome and Remix posted on Weibo to "report" the latest research progress. The researchers extracted the DNA sequence of the fruiting body of white ginseng and successfully identified the strain as belonging to the type species of Schizophyllum commune.
As can be seen from the comparison chart on July 10 and 11, the mycelium of white ginseng grows very fast, and the researchers have conducted microscopic observation of the white ginseng tissue, and the growth of thick hyphae can be seen.
Compared to the previous day, the mycelium grew very densely, further eroding the apple, and if it was placed at the right temperature and humidity, new fruiting bodies might be produced.
From the current observation, it can be seen that the growth of the mycelium of the decayed part of the apple is the best, and it can be preliminarily inferred that the mycelium of white ginseng mainly depends on the decayed part of the apple to provide nutrition. There is no hyphae growing in the undecayed part, so it remains to be confirmed whether the white ginseng has invaded the fresh mycelium.
At present, Dr. Xu has inoculated and cultivated this mushroom-growing apple separately, and it is expected that the artificial cultivation experiment will be able to start in two months, and more "fruit and fungus kings" will grow.
Source: Wisdom Life Newspaper · Useful popular science