Differences between wild and cultivated mushrooms

Wild mushrooms from nature and mushrooms grown for commercial purposes on mushroom farms are genetically identical but not equal in type and amount of metabolites, that is, containing medicinal substances.

Mushrooms from a mushroom farm (already real factories in China today) grow in controlled conditions that they do not have in nature. To achieve higher yield, growers take care to remove any presence of pests and microorganisms from the environment. Such fungi do not develop defence mechanisms and do not synthesize secondary metabolites sufficiently because they do not need it to survive.

Secondary metabolites are bioactive compounds that fungi do not need for growth and reproduction, and they synthesize them as a means of defence against pests and microorganisms. The most important secondary metabolites in medicinal mushrooms are glycoproteins, peptides, antibiotics, lactones, terpenoids, alkaloids, hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes.

The richer a mushroom is with secondary metabolites, the stronger the taste and smell of the mushroom, and the stronger the healing effect — the difference between any wild mushroom picked in nature and a mushroom grown in sterile conditions on a farm is often easily noticeable and valued in gastronomy. The same applies to the medicinal benefits.

Sometimes, if the primary metabolites are efficient enough for a health problem, then the cultivated mushrooms are good enough.

But if we need to solve a health issue at the upper limit of our immunity capabilities, we need a full synergic effect of primary and secondary metabolites working together. In this case, the wild fungus from nature is an integral solution, acting in multiple ways and offering a complete range of active ingredients. Many studies proved that.

So to consume wild mushrooms from nature is a great privilege, not merely for culinary, but primarily for health reasons. This applies to fresh local edible mushrooms as well.

As there were not enough medicinal mushrooms from nature in the past, people started growing them on tree logs in the open, copying nature. We cultivated them in this fashion for thousands of years until about 50 years ago. Mushrooms growing out in the open and on natural wood, as in nature, were almost equal to the wild ones in their number of secondary metabolites.

For medicinal purposes, this is the best way to grow, because the fungus will show all its health potential.

All studies until a few years ago, took into account only mushrooms from nature, and the fascinating results of their healing properties always apply to species from the wild.

To conclude, although the mushroom grown in the mushroom grove looks the same and is genetically identical to the wild one, it differs in content and richness of medicinal substances.