Love Mushrooms? Choose among them

"Without leaves, without buds, without flowers, yet they form fruit. As a food, as a tonic and as a medicine, mushroom is the wonderful of nature." - S.T.Chang in Chang and Miles (1990).

Hippocrates, a well-known Greek physician of the Age of Pericles and known as the 'Father of Western Medicine', first mentioned the medicinal value of mushrooms around 400 B.C. The Aztecs considered mushrooms as 'God's flesh' and the Romans regarded them as 'Food of God', which was served occasionally during the celebration of festive spirit. 

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt believed that mushrooms had magical powers, while the Chinese treasured mushrooms as healthy food, the 'elixir of life' and used them to cure several diseases.

During the reign of Alexander the Great in Ancient Greece, he provided the warriors with mushrooms, which were exported from different parts of the world. The people of Greece believed that mushrooms were potent symbols that provided strength to the warriors in the battle.

The intoxicating drink 'soma', one of the energy potions used by the Aryas, was the extract of a toadstool named fly agaric- Amantia muscaria.

Mushroom, aka toadstool, is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus. Today, we will take a look over one of the chief mushroom varieties, called milky mushroom (Calocybe indica). Let's ponder through the pages of wonders...

Calocybe indica, also known as 'Dudh Chatta' in the regions of West Bengal, is an edible mushroom which is native to India. The etymology of the term 'Dudh Chatta' is derived from Bengali. 'Dudh' is a Bengali term meaning milk and 'Chatta' means umbrella. Milky mushrooms resemble the white umbrellas. It is nutrient-rich and the world sees these medicinal values are the cure to many diseases.

Taxonomic Classification of C.indica

Kingdom	Fungi
Division	Basidiomycota
Class	Agaricomycetes
Order	Agaricales
Family	Lyophyllaceae
Genus	Calocybe
Species	indica

Milky mushrooms can replace other tropical mushrooms such as Pleurotus app., etc. The reason for this is that it has high protein content and has a good biological efficiency compared to other mushrooms. These mushrooms are widely used as a food supplement and high protein content and low-fat level are the reasons behind the larger consumption of this mushroom in a malnourished country, like India.

Nutritional Value of Milky Mushroom (in 100 gm)

Energy	46.56 Kcal
Carbohydrate	6.70 g
Protein	4.26 g
Fat	0.68 g
Alanine	28.96 g
Cystine	18.18 g
Glycine	17.78 g
Thiamin	6.20 mg
Riboflavin	7.50 mg
Niacin	10 mg
Vitamin C	12.82 mg
Calcium	10.40 mg
Iron	10.86 mg
Potassium	415.6 mg
Phosphorus	622.6 mg

Moreover, the list goes on. As you can see, the nutritional values of milky mushroom that are mentioned above are well known. Let us see some trace elements.

Copper	1.9 mg
Sodium	11.8 mg
Zinc	1.47 mg
Fibre	3.24 g
Tannin	1.80 mg
Polyphenol	3.70 mg
Ash	2.30 g

The other chief varieties of mushrooms include oyster and button mushrooms. Here is the comparison chart of nutritional values among these mushrooms.

Comparison of minerals and the other among the chief mushrooms

Comparison table of nutritional values among butter, oyster and milky mushrooms

Overall, the milky mushroom is superior to other mushrooms when it comes to nutritive value. Among all the species, milky mushrooms have not been popularized due to the lack of awareness about its nutritional values, functional properties and little knowledge about this mushroom among the folks.
According to the Healthcare Index 2017, India stands 154th among 195 countries. Despite the socio-economic development, India is still lagging in health.

 Improper supply of food and low intake of nutrient-rich food are the top reasons that cause malnutrition. Education and health are the factors for productive population, especially in developing countries like India. The government should also encourage the production of food like the milky mushroom, and encourage people to have them in their daily food supply.

 Today's goal for the healthy future is to create awareness about its nutrition, increase the utilization and popularize this mushroom as part and parcel of the everyday diet, which is of paramount importance.

Source: Sujji Foods