Pig mushrooms (dunka)

Types and their description with photo

The pigs are composed of eight types of mushrooms. Some of them are not very common:

1. Ear-shaped. Outwardly, it looks like an oyster mushroom and grows on the trunks of coniferous trees, attaching to them with a leg or an appendage from the cap. The color is olive, yellow or brown, the plates are light. The diameter of the cap is in the range of 2-8 cm. Growing time is late summer and autumn.

Most often there are two types of barn: thick, which is still eaten, and thin - dangerous to human health and life. It is imperative to distinguish between them. For this, photos can additionally help, they are even recommended to be taken with you to the forest and compared there on the spot.

Conditionally edible

The fat pig belongs to a group that is characterized by very low palatability, has no value as a source of useful ingredients. In foreign literature, it appears as inedible or with unexplored properties.

Distinctive features of a fat pig are a slow darkening of the cut, a short and thick velvet leg of a dark brown or black color, which has been compared to a cigar. The hat can reach 25 cm in diameter, velvety to the touch, brown or pistachio, with spots.

The hat can reach 25 cm in diameter, velvety to the touch, brown or pistachio, with spots.

Dangerous

The slender pig has a fleshy cap with curled edges and a funnel in the center. The color is olive, darkens with age.

The size of the cap is usually in the range of 12-15 cm, it is very rare to find a 20-cm one. She herself is fleshy, thick. At a young age, it is light and dome-shaped, over time it changes shape to flat and even slightly curved towards the center, and the color darkens.

The range of colors is from light gray to rich olive. The edges of the cap are wavy, the surface is rough and fluffy, although if there is a lot of moisture around it, it becomes glossy, slippery and sticky.

Cowshed

The leg is also medium-sized and even, it can reach a maximum of 9 cm in length and only 2 cm in width. The color is the same as the hat. A characteristic feature of the barn is that the flesh is light yellow inside, but on a break or cut it quickly darkens to brown.

The period and rules for collecting edible pigs

If mushroom pickers, despite not very flattering characteristics, still collect a barn, then you need to adhere to some rules:

go on a "quiet hunt" deep into the forest, moving as far as possible from highways and industrial buildings of factories - this will reduce the chances of collecting harmful chemicals for dinner;

Pig collection

take only young fruiting bodies, the old ones accumulate more of these compounds over time;
do not eat large portions, mushrooms, in principle, are quite heavy food, they should play the role of a spicy addition on the plate, and not a main dish or side dish;
cook dunki, scrupulously observing all the rules: start cooking as early as possible, wash thoroughly, cook for a long time in several stages, draining the broth each time, do not store the finished dish for more than several hours.

The time for collecting the pig is the second half of summer and autumn.

Differences between a fat pig and a thin one and other poisonous mushrooms

The two most common pigs differ quite noticeably from each other in the rate of darkening of the pulp when broken and in the leg, namely in its color and thickness. It is convenient to compare it from the photo posted above. The cowsheds have no clear similarity with other poisonous mushrooms.

What does it look like

In size, the slender pig belongs to small mushrooms. Its "height" does not exceed 10 cm, the maximum diameter of the cap is 20 cm.

Hat

For a thin pig, such cap colors are characteristic as olive, yellowish-brown, reddish-brown, gray-brown.The intensity of the color changes as the mushroom grows, the cap gradually becomes darker. Below the cap is grayish-white, a slight yellow or reddish-brown tint may be present.

The diameter of the cap ranges from 5 to 20 cm. The average diameter is 12-15 cm.

The hat is lamellar, round or slightly elongated. In young mushrooms it is convex, in mature mushrooms it is flat or concave. The edge is wavy, tucked down.

The structure of the mushroom cap is thick, fleshy, with a dry, rough surface, which becomes sticky to the touch after rain.

Pulp

The pulp is of a dense consistency, painted in a pale yellow color. In a young mushroom it is soft, in a mature one it is loose. It becomes dark at the break or cut. In dry times, it becomes wormy. Smell and taste are not pronounced.

Leg

The leg is small. In length from 3 to 10 cm, from 0.6 to 3 cm in diameter. It is colored greenish-yellow or yellow, similar to the color of the cap or slightly lighter. Solid, cylindrical, with a matte, smooth surface.

The pig is thin: photo and description

Pig mushroom in the photo

Pig is a lamellar mushroom that grows in various types of forests in large groups, from July to October, it can form mycorrhiza. In recent years, the pig has been classified as a poisonous mushroom (it can cause poisoning, even fatal). It contains substances that lead to a decrease in red blood cells in the blood. Moreover, the manifestation of poisoning depends on the individual characteristics of the human body and can occur both a few hours later and several years after the use of these mushrooms.

Previously, the pig was considered an edible mushroom, it was even taken into government procurements. In all the old books, it is designated as an edible mushroom. Currently, views on her have changed. It turned out that the pig contains an antigen that causes the production of antibodies by the human immune system. Moreover, the effect of this antigen on the body depends on the susceptibility of each person. For some, excessive antibody production may occur, resulting in allergic shock. Signs of poisoning may appear after a few hours or several years, since the toxin can accumulate in the body. Kidney function is impaired, which can lead to death. Treatment is to maintain kidney function.

The pig is thin in the photo

The slender pig (Paxillus involutus) is a lamellar mushroom, in some sources referred to as a pig's ear or dunka. Grows singly, in small groups or in numerous colonies from mid-June to early November, easily tolerating the fall in temperature. Grows in deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests, parks and gardens. In autumn, in the willow groves, you can find a lot of pigs.

Favorite habitats are wet areas of soil in lowlands and near swamps, woodlands, parks, vegetable gardens, as well as fallen tree trunks.

The mushroom is considered poisonous.

The cap is 5-15 cm in diameter, in young specimens it is convex, fleshy, light olive or greenish-beige, with a strongly tucked edge, with dense, thick light pulp, then open, with a depressed center, yellow-brown or gray-brown ...

The plates are descending, soft, branched, yellow-buffy.

As you can see in the photo, a thin pig has a cylindrical leg, thinned downwards, 3-8 cm long and 1-2 cm thick, velvety, of the same color with a cap:

The pulp is thick, soft, elastic in young mushrooms, loose, pale brown in mature ones, brown in old mushrooms, darkens on the cut. The smell of the pulp is pleasant, the taste is sour.

Fruiting from July to November.

Until the early 80s of the last century, the slender pig was considered an edible mushroom, but after cases of mass poisoning were noted in several countries at once, doctors unanimously attributed it to the category of poisonous. It turned out that as a result of the frequent consumption of this variety of pigs in the human body, there is an accumulation of antibodies that destroy red blood cells.This, in turn, leads to serious kidney problems. In addition, it turned out that the slender pig easily accumulates heavy metals in its tissues, which also have a destructive effect on the human body.

According to the description, this pig cannot be confused with other mushrooms.

Tapinella panuoides

• Other names for the mushroom:
• Ear-shaped pig
• Paxil panusoid
• Mine mushroom
• Pig underground
• Burial mushroom

Synonyms:

• Paxil panusoid;
• Mine mushroom;
• The pig is underground;
• Burial mushroom;
• Serpula panuoides;

Tapinella panuoides is a lamellar mushroom widespread in Kazakhstan and Russia.

External description

Panus-shaped tapinella is a fruiting body, consisting of a wide cap and a small, spreading out in the width of the leg. Most mushrooms of this type have almost no stem.

If the panus-shaped tapinella has a leg-shaped base, then it is characterized by high density, rubbery, dark brown or brownish in color, and velvety to the touch.

The tissues of the fungus are fleshy, have a thickness of 0.5-7 mm, a light brown or yellow-cream shade, when dried, the pulp becomes spongy.

The diameter of the mushroom cap varies from 2 to 12 cm, is fan-shaped, and sometimes shell-shaped. The edge of the cap is often wavy, uneven, and serrated. In young fruiting bodies, the surface of the cap is velvety to the touch, but in mature mushrooms it becomes smooth. The cap color of the panus-shaped tapinella varies from yellow-brown to light ocher.

The fungal hymenophore is represented by a lamellar type, while the plates at the fruiting body are narrow, located very close to each other, blown out near the base. The color of the plates is cream, orange-brown or yellow-brown. If you press on the plates with your fingers, it will not change its shade.

In young fruit bodies, the pulp is characterized by great rigidity, however, as it ripens, it becomes more lethargic, has a thickness of no more than 1 cm.On the cut, the pulp of the mushroom often becomes darker, and in the absence of mechanical action it has a dirty yellow or whitish color. The mushroom pulp has no taste, but it has a coniferous or resinous aroma.

The spores of the fungus are 4-6 * 3-4 microns in size, smooth to the touch, wide and oval in appearance, brown-ocher in color. The spore powder has a yellow-brown or yellow color.

Season and habitat of the mushroom

Tapinella panuoides belongs to the category of saprobic mushrooms that bear fruit from mid-summer to the very end of autumn. Fruit bodies are found both singly and in groups. This type of mushroom prefers to grow on coniferous litter or dead wood of coniferous trees. The fungus is widespread, often settles on the surface of old wooden buildings, provoking their decay.

Edibility

Panus tapinella is a slightly poisonous fungus. The presence of toxins in it is due to the presence of special substances in the composition of the fruit bodies - lectins. It is these substances that cause the clumping of red blood cells (red blood cells, the main components of blood).

Similar types and differences from them

The appearance of the panus-shaped tapinella does not stand out too much against the background of other fungi of this genus. Often this mushroom is confused with other varieties of lamellar mushrooms. Among the most famous varieties similar to the panus-shaped tapinella are Crepidotus mollis, Phyllotopsis nidulans, Lentinellus ursinus. For example, Phyllotopsis nidulans, in comparison with tapinella panusoid, prefers to grow on deciduous wood, has a rich orange cap. At the same time, the cap of this mushroom has even (and not serrated and wavy, as in the panus-shaped tapinella) edges. The mushroom Phyllotopsis nidulans does not have a very pleasant pulp aroma.The Crepidotus mollis fungus grows in groups, mainly on deciduous trees. Its distinctive features are less wrinkled plates, a cap of a light ocher hue (in comparison with tapinella panusoid, it is not so bright). The color of the fungus Lentinellus ursinus is pale brown, its cap is the same in shape as that of the panus-shaped tapinella, but its hymenophore is distinguished by narrow plates, located often. This type of mushroom has an unpleasant odor.

Other information about the mushroom

The etymology of the name of the fungus tapinella panus is interesting. The name Tapinella comes from the word ταπις, which means carpet. The epithet "panus-shaped" characterizes this type of mushroom as similar to Panus (one of the genera of mushrooms).

Is the fat pig edible?

There is no information about the edibility of these mushrooms, since it is not clear whether they contain poison. But the closest relative is a thin pig - is a poisonous species. Therefore, a fat pig is considered inedible, in addition, it has a tough pulp, which makes it unattractive for cooking.

Pigs contain muscarine, which is a dangerous toxin. And in the process of heat treatment, muscarine is not destroyed. Also, pigs contain an antigen that, when ingested, causes the formation of antibodies in the blood. These antibodies gradually accumulate and lead to the formation of blood diseases. With the regular use of pigs, poisoning occurs, which is often fatal.

Harmful substances from poisonous fungi are not excreted from the body, but gradually accumulate in it. Therefore, do not experiment with unknown species.

The similarity of the fat pig with other mushrooms

The fat pig cannot be confused with other mushrooms, since only it has such a beautiful velvety leg. The cap of the fat pig is a bit similar to the cap of the Polish mushroom and the green flywheel, but both of these types are tubular, quite suitable for eating.

Other mushrooms of this genus

A slender pig, or a cowshed, or a pig's ear, or a filly grows in coniferous and deciduous forests, mainly found in young birch and oak forests. These mushrooms prefer moist soil. They grow in large groups, rarely singly. Fruiting time is from June to October.

The diameter of a thin pig's cap ranges from 12 to 15 centimeters. The hat is fleshy, at first its shape is slightly convex, and as it grows, it becomes flat, while a depressed funnel is obtained in the center. The edge of the cap is felted, strongly wrapped. The color of the cap is reddish, buffy-brown or rusty. The length of the leg reaches 9 centimeters, and its thickness is 1-1.5 centimeters. The leg is central, it tapers downward, dense in structure.

The slender pig appears in many sources as a poisonous mushroom. It contains a large amount of harmful impurities that accumulate in the body and negatively affect health, since they are not removed from it.

Aspen pig or alder pig is a rather rare mushroom. The name of the mushroom is due to the fact that it prefers to grow under alder and aspen. At the moment, the aspen pig is considered a poisonous mushroom, but in some sources, nevertheless, there is information that this is a conditionally edible mushroom.

The aspen pig looks like a thin pig, but the alder pig's cap is scaly-cracking, in addition, its shade is more yellowish-red. Also, aspen pig and thin pig differ in places of growth.

Answers to questions of mushroom pickers

The main question of mushroom pickers regarding pigs is whether they are edible or not. The answer is unequivocal - they are dangerous to eat, regardless of the method of preparation. Lovers of salted or pickled forest mushrooms are better off giving preference to the edible counterparts of pigs - saffron milk caps, mushrooms or honey agarics.

The harmfulness of pigs has been proven by modern scientists.To avoid irreversible negative health effects, you should refrain from consuming these mushrooms. Do not believe the recipes that say that pigs are enough to clean, wash and salt to eliminate toxins. This is deadly, so it is better to give preference to the collection of spongy mushrooms (boletus, boletus, etc.), which are guaranteed to be suitable for consumption.

Edible pig mushrooms - types, what they look like, with what can be confused: description, photo

Pig mushrooms

The fact is that almost all recipes with the participation of pigs that are now on the network arose during the war, when there was a shortage of food. Accordingly, people ate whatever they could get their hands on.

Description:

• Many people think that pig mushrooms are really edible. And despite the bitter taste, they can be eaten. The only thing, before using, it is necessary to boil them for about half an hour in water in order to remove the bitterness.
• But some studies have found that pig mushrooms are very dangerous and should not be eaten because they contain a protein that can build up in the body and destroy red blood cells. And this contributes to the rapid clotting of blood.

• But among the pigs there are also edible varieties, if they belong to the genus Tapinella.
• They look like rather dense, large mushrooms. The leg is underdeveloped. It is thick, short, with a large funnel-shaped cap. In this case, the cap can be bent downward along the edge. The color is brownish or brownish, present on the inner side of the cap of the plate. This is a fat pig (lat.Tapinella atrotomentosa) - and according to mushroom pickers it is edible.
• In rainy weather, the pulp is strongly absorbed by moisture and when cut, water directly oozes out of it.

The pig is fat

Pig (Paxillus involutus)

• Other names for the mushroom:
• The pig is thin
• Cowshed
• Pig
• Matryoshka

Synonyms:

• Cowshed
• Matryoshka
• Filly
• Pigs
• Pig
• Pig
• Pig
• Pig ear

Pig (Latin Paxillus involutus) or simply Pig is a mushroom of the Pig family. Until 1981, this mushroom was considered conditionally edible and belonged to the 4th category for food qualities. Currently, Pig is classified as poisonous, although many mushroom pickers disagree with this statement.

External description

The cap of the pig is 12-15 cm in ∅, fleshy, at first slightly convex, then flat, in the middle funnel-shaped-depressed, with a strongly wrapped furry-tomentose velvety edge, in a young mushroom it is olive-brown, fibrous-fluffy, in mature mushrooms it is buffy-brown or reddish, rusty, gradually fading, with shiny bare skin.

The pulp is yellowish, soft, friable, without a special smell and taste; on the cut it changes color - turns brown.

The plates are ocher-yellow, wide, sparse, descending along the pedicle. Often they are interconnected by jumpers and form a mesh grid. The spore powder is brown. Spores are ellipsoidal, smooth.

The leg is up to 9 cm long, 1-1.5 cm ∅, central, less often eccentric, often narrowed to the bottom, dense, cylindrical.

Spreading

The pig grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, most often in young birch forests, oak forests and shrubs, along the edges of ravines and sphagnum bogs, on the edges of meadows, as well as near the mossy bases of spruce and pine trees, on the roots of upturned trees. Occurs on moist soil often and abundantly in groups, less often singly.

Pig bears fruit from June to October.

Edibility

Many sources, especially recent publications, claim that the mushroom is poisonous. Not fatal, but most of the harmful impurities contained in the pig accumulate in the human body and are not excreted in the course of normal life.

But, if you really decide to use pigs, then we recommend boiling them several times before using, and each time in clean water.Also, some people have an individual intolerance to this mushroom, so if you haven't eaten pigs before, and after all you've read, you still decided to do it, then you need to start eating pigs with small portions no more than 1 time a day.

The most common use of pigs is salting. But some mushroom pickers consider the pig to be a universal mushroom that can be fried, pickled, dried.

Another negative property of the pig is its ability to very strongly absorb any chemistry, radioisotopes, heavy metals (lead) from the surrounding fields and roads. Therefore, it is not recommended to pick mushrooms, especially pigs, near roads, chemical plants, and even more so at nuclear power plants. Collect them deeper in the forest. Salts of lead and other heavy metals are poisonous, they accumulate well in fungi and the human body. Salt and acetic acid dissolves radioisotopes and heavy metal salts in mushrooms and removes them into solution. According to this, pigs need soaking for 24 hours, changing the water (preferably salted) every few hours, then the obligatory boiling in salt water, changing the water, until the water remains light.

Video about the Pig mushroom:

Mushroom harm

All pigs are definitely not valuable mushrooms. Health damage can be caused by the use of even conditionally edible fat pig, if it is often eaten in large portions.

Poisonous properties

A pig contains substances that affect the functioning of a living organism - lectins. They do not die during heat treatment. When passing through the digestive system, they enter the blood cells and disperse throughout the body, causing an allergic reaction at first. But the antibodies that have come to the defense do not attack the lectins themselves, but the cells in which they are located. That is, the action of the organism is directed against the organism itself.

And the next insidious step of poisons is kidney damage, the appearance of renal failure. In addition to the composition of the mushroom itself, the danger is posed by the property of the pig to accumulate heavy metals from the soil, radioactive compounds, sometimes during research there they found such an amount that exceeded the norm by hundreds of times.

Pig poisoning

Poisoning can occur in the first hours or stretch over time. It depends on the dose of the poison, the frequency of its use, the state of the whole organism, and immunity. The cumulative effect works here. At first, dizziness, change in consciousness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea may occur. Next, pallor of the skin is added or, on the contrary, jaundice develops, shock or breathing problems may occur.

First aid

Sometimes the symptoms of pig poisoning do not appear immediately, but even after a few days. In this case, it is not always possible to guess that the reason for their poor health is in them. But in case of mushroom poisoning, self-medication or delay is unacceptable. The first thing to do is go to the hospital urgently.

First aid for mushroom poisoning

There they will do all the necessary laboratory tests and other manipulations (washing the stomach, intestines, administering an antihistamine and more complex resuscitation procedures), the patient will be under the constant supervision of doctors monitoring vital signs. Laboratory tests can show erythropenia, abnormalities in bilirubin and hemoglobin levels.

Unfortunately, today there is no antidote for this type of substance, and treatment is aimed only at reducing symptoms. That is why early medical attention is key.

Is the pig edible

The pig belongs to the poisonous species of mushrooms.

For novice mushroom pickers, pig mushrooms often seem similar to other edible mushrooms. These poisonous representatives of the kingdom of Mushrooms grow in the same conditions as edible fruit bodies.

"Dunka" was banned from collecting in 1993 due to a whole series of poisonings. The first known case of human death is dated 1944 (Germany), when the mycologist J. Schaeffer tasted pig mushrooms.He had severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Sheffer died on the 17th day after the meal.

The pig mushroom is inedible. The harm from its use is as follows:

• Pig mushrooms contain dangerous toxins - lectins, the concentration of which remains high even after prolonged heat treatment of fruit chalk.
• Certain varieties of the mushroom contain muscarine poison, the toxicity of which is comparable to that of the red fly agaric.
• The product contains specific antigens, when they enter the body, the cell membranes of the mucous membrane of the internal organs are destroyed. The result of using such fruiting bodies is practically unpredictable. Development of anemia, nephropathy or renal failure is possible.
• The pig mushroom contains chemical compounds based on heavy metals, as well as radioactive particles.

Pig is a poisonous mushroom, even its accidental use leads to allergic reactions, disruption of the activity of internal organs and systems, severe poisoning and death. Having seen the place where such a mushroom grows, it is better to bypass it. If in doubt, the find should be shown to an experienced mushroom picker, who will tell you whether these are false bodies or not.