Tinder fungus sulfur yellow medicinal properties. what is the use of tinder fungus

In traditional medicine

In China and Japan, fungotherapy is recognized as official medicine, the history of using mushroom pulp for therapy goes back more than 20 centuries. The medicinal properties of the multicolored trameta are different, as well as the methods of its preparation. Powders, ointments and tinctures are prescribed to patients with the following diseases:

• liver problems, including chronic hepatitis;
• decreased immunity;
• viral infections: herpes, lichen, influenza and cytomegalovirus;
• fungal infections - candidiasis, ringworm and others;
• prevention and treatment of cancer;
• rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, wet cough;
• problems of the cardiovascular system;
• prescribe multicolored trametes for dermatomyositis, sclerosis, lupus;
• used in the complex treatment of the gastrointestinal tract.

Other information about the mushroom

Trametes versicolor is a mushroom that is widespread in many forests on the planet. The variegated appearance of the fruit body is very similar to a turkey or peacock tail. A large number of surface shades makes the variegated tinder fungus a recognizable and well-distinguishable fungus. Despite such a striking appearance on the territory of Russia, this type of tramese is practically unknown.

Only in some parts of the country there is little mention of the fact that this mushroom has medicinal properties. It can be used to make a medicine for the prevention of liver and stomach cancer, effective treatment of ascites (dropsy) by boiling multi-colored tinder fungus in a water bath. With cancer ulcers, an ointment made on the basis of badger fat and powder from dried Trametes mushroom helps well.

In Japan, the medicinal qualities of the multi-colored tinder fungus are well known. Infusions and ointments based on this mushroom are used to treat various degrees of oncology. It is interesting that mushroom therapy in this country is prescribed in a complex manner in hospitals, before irradiation and after chemotherapy. Actually, the use of fungotherapy in Japan is considered a mandatory procedure for all cancer patients.

A special polysaccharide called coriolan was isolated from the fruit bodies of the multicolored trametess. It is he who actively affects tumor (cancer) cells and helps to increase cellular immunity.

The value and benefits of the mushroom

The chemical composition of many polypores is poorly understood. Scientists have discovered antitumor substances in the composition of these mushrooms, so now their composition is being actively studied. In tinder bodies, you can find "deposits" of potassium, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, lead, cadmium, germanium. Collecting tinder fungi intended for medicinal or food (if the species is edible) is not recommended to be carried out near highways and near industrial zones.

The people call the mushroom a forest chicken - for its unusual shape and nutritional value. 100 g of the fruiting body contains 22 kcal. 100 g of mushroom contains:

• protein - 3.09 g;
• fats - 0.34 g;
• carbohydrates - 3.26 g;
• water - 92.45 g.

And:

• cellulose;
• resinous substances;
• B vitamins;
• minerals;
• lipids;
• amino acids.

Culinary Application

Scaly polypore - a speckled woody delicacy

Although officially this mushroom belongs only to the fourth food category, the Hare enjoys a well-deserved fame as a mushroom delicacy, for its delicate taste and exquisite smell of young fruit chalk. It is successfully fried, soups are made from it, and it is also salted and pickled. In Udmurtia, this mushroom is called mekangubi, and is eaten without any preliminary boiling. However, it must be remembered that Scaly Tinder, nevertheless, belongs to the category of conditionally edible mushrooms, and there are certain rules for its use in food:

• Only young fruiting bodies should be collected. Checking the age is not difficult - pinch the edge of the hat - if it breaks and crumbles, you can eat.
• The collected fruit bodies must be soaked in water.Someone soaks for a whole day, but a couple of hours is enough. If soaking for a long time, then periodically change the water to fresh. Then the mushrooms must be boiled for 15 minutes - after that you can use them for culinary purposes as you like. The resulting broth can be used for soup.
• For cooking, the pulp of the cap is usually used, peeling off the skin with scales from it, but the legs are also edible.

Scaly polypore - a speckled woody delicacy

Tinder fungi are easy to prepare for future use:

Drying in the sun

1. Clean the fruit bodies from dirt and damaged fragments and wipe with a damp cloth.
2. Cut into medium sized pieces.
3. String on a thread, making sure that the pieces do not touch each other.
4. Hang to dry in a sunny place. You can slightly cover the pieces with a layer of gauze on top to protect them from insects.

Salting for the winter

Would need:

1. Salt - 120 gr.
2. Peeled and boiled mushrooms - 3kg.
3. Garlic - 5-6 medium-sized cloves.
4. Bay leaves - 6 pieces.
5. Black peppercorns - about 30 pieces.
6. Dill to taste.

The ingredients are placed in a salting container in this order:

• Chopped garlic, bay leaves, dill and black pepper.
• Mushrooms in a layer of 7 cm, then cover them with salt.
• Repeat this combination of layers up to the edge of the container.
• Close the top with a thick napkin, put under the load and remove in a dark place for a month.

Why are polypores dangerous to trees?

Polypores are parasites, they use trees as a food base. Sucking out nutrients and water from wood, they slowly kill it. Several years pass until the plant, exhausted by parasitic fungi, loses its strength and strength - it becomes dry. A small hurricane is enough to break a fragile tree. And tinder fungi do not care about such a development of events - they continue to drink juices from a tree felled by a windbreak.

Killer mushrooms perform an important mission in the forest - they free up space for new trees. A kind of orderlies of the forest. But in orchards grown by man, tinder mushrooms must be fought mercilessly.

Related species of mushroom

Scaly tinder fungus is popularly called hare, motley, elm, motley tinder fungus. It is characterized by related species:

• True tinder fungus: it has popular names - deciduous, larch sponge, blood sponge. The fruiting bodies of the species are inedible, previously they were actively used for medical purposes, as a hemostatic agent. Modern scientists have found that tinder fungi are able to remove toxins, restore the liver, and heal lungs (cough, oncology, pneumonia, tuberculosis). The hymenophore is tubular.
• Tinder fungus is sulfur-yellow: outwardly similar to polyurethane foam, on top of its fruit body is covered with a matte yellow skin. The surface of the cap is uneven. In young mushrooms, the edges of the cap are thick oval, and in adults, they are thin wavy. The hymenophore is tubular. Fruit bodies are annual. Young can be eaten, they have a sour taste. Medicine appreciates this type of tinder fungus for the presence of antibiotics in its pulp, which can suppress the development of resistant forms of staphylococcus. Approximately 70% of the fruiting body consists of resinous substances that have a positive effect on the respiratory system, liver and bile ducts, according to Japanese fungal therapists.
• Lacquered polypore, or reishi: this species is inedible and has high antioxidant properties. The question of the expediency of using it in medicine is still being discussed by doctors, but in oriental medicine it has already found wide application.

Tuberous polypore, Polyporus tuberaster

Hat: Rounded, to some extent depressed in the center, 5-15 cm in diameter. (Sometimes, under favorable conditions, it can reach all 20 cm or more.) The color is yellow-reddish, the surface, especially in the central region, is densely covered with small densely pressed brown scales forming a symmetrical pattern. In older specimens, however, this may not be particularly pronounced.The flesh of the cap is whitish, rubbery, very elastic, very watery in damp weather, with a faint pleasant (fruity?) Odor and no particular taste.

Hymenophore: Tubular, descending along the pedicle, irregular pores are relatively large (and for tinder fungi they are generally huge), up to 2 mm in diameter; color - from white in young mushrooms to yellowish-beige in adult specimens.

Spore powder: White.

Leg: Mainly central, cylindrical, slightly widened at the bottom, often curved; length 4-7 cm (in rare cases up to 10), thickness up to 1.5 cm. The color is reddish-brown. The flesh of the leg is very tough, fibrous. A special sign: at the base of the leg, you can often find strong strands that fix the mushroom in the woody substrate (simply in the stump).

Spreading: Tuberous polypores are found from the end of May (more often) and throughout the summer, until mid-September (much less often), growing on the remains of deciduous trees, especially highlighting linden, oak and other similar species.

Similar species: Among the main distinguishing features of the Polyporus tuberaster, one can distinguish the central stalk and pores large by the concept of the Polyporus genus, as well as the relatively small size of the fruit chalk. The latter distinguishes the tuberous tinder fungus from its much more fleshy congener, the scaly tinder fungus, Polyporus squamosus, and the pore size, as well as the characteristic symmetrical scaly of the cap, from the practically naked and finely porous tinder fungus, Polyporus varius. However, we all understand perfectly well that the genus Polyporus was once huge, and there are probably a great many rare mushrooms, similar to Polyporus tuberaster, and now migrating to other genera.

Edibility: A mushroom is considered edible only insofar as it is not poisonous or bitter. Probably, somehow you can cook it so that a person does not feel as if he is trying to eat a tinder fungus. At the same time, as an aromatic additive in soup or in stewing, it is incomparable. Just don't try to eat it yourself. It's like a ruff in your ear.

Author's notes: This mushroom deceived me for several years, pretending to be Polyporus squamosus (thereby shielding the scaly tinder fungus itself), but now, thanks to its fellow mushroom business, the tuberous tinder fungus has been brought out to clean waters! For which, in fact, many thanks to all. And so you won't talk about it very much: in my opinion, it is only interesting that the fruiting bodies of Polyporus tuberaster are devoured at a young age by some anonymous tinder eater, and it is not so easy for a person to find a specimen suitable for taking a photogram simply.

At a young age, the tuberous tinder fungus is probably simply impossible to distinguish from its scaly congener. Here I cheated - at first I made sure that Polyporus tuberaster would really grow out of this mushroom, and only after that I designed the picture.

Here is a close-up of the mushroom "underwear". Large (very large) elongated pores descending to the pedicle; the leg, however, looks somehow unconvincing, no tuber is visible. We will assume that the tuber is implied by the circumstances. Still, the mushroom is positioned as Polyporus tuberaster, a tuberous tinder fungus.

In dark and damp places, “naked” forms of tuberous tinder fungus are more common. That these are one and the same species, I have no doubt. And the fact that this is exactly the Polyporus tuberaster, alas, there are doubts. But do all the other signs seem to be the same? There are not too many mushrooms in the genus Polyporus to get lost.

Gambling spring rains, sun and wind can completely deprive the cap of a tuberous tinder fungus of its beautiful scaly pattern. If there were no other mushrooms of a more characteristic appearance nearby, one would think that we have before us some kind of unknown to science.

It is not yet possible to photograph the characteristic leg of the tuberous tinder fungus: a certain animal feeding on tinder fungus finds them much earlier than the photographer. However, the mushroom is a transitory phenomenon, and this inspires cautious optimism. A typical, well-preserved specimen of Polyporus tuberaster will surely come across in the very near future.

Description of the mushroom

Large scale tinder fungus.Its cap grows up to 40 cm in diameter, in rare cases - up to 60 cm.At the beginning of growth, its shape is kidney-shaped, then it turns into a prostrate. It is massive, thick, sometimes with indentation at the base. Its leathery surface is covered with brown, darkish scales, which are arranged in the form of symmetrical circles. The edge of the cap of a young mushroom is soft, easily crumbles, in old mushrooms, on the contrary, it is hard. All edges are fan-shaped, rather thin.

The leg is thick, located on the side. Its base is always dark in color. The pulp is white, soft. The length of the leg reaches 10 cm, and the width is 4 cm. The hymenophore is tubular, light or yellowish.

This species grows mainly on trees, not far from the ground, sometimes it is found on logs and stumps. Moreover, a single fruiting body can be seen extremely rarely, usually these mushrooms grow in whole colonies, the caps of individual specimens are tiled overlapping each other.

Removing toxins

The inhabitants of Ancient Rome and Greece believed in the healing effects of this mushroom family. In those days, a real tinder fungus cost a lot of money, so it was almost impossible for ordinary people to purchase it. But among the nobility, this mushroom became widespread, primarily due to the famous recipe of King Mithridates.

But the ability of the fungus to remove harmful substances without harm to health has already been established by modern scientists. Properly processed in tincture, the pulp is able to cope with even the strongest poisons like mercury dichloride, arsenic compounds and other dangerous variations that can accumulate in the human body for years.