The Concept of Nutritional Value

In 1948 the Russian mycologist Dr. B. P. Vasilkov divided edible mushrooms into 4 categories according to their nutritional value, taste, distribution and traditions of consumption.

This was a subjective division, since the biochemical composition of many edible mushrooms, which determines their nutritional value, was not yet known, and so some mushroom species ended up in one category or another without justification.

The opinions of many of the world's mycologists on this question did not coincide, so this classification was not widely used either.

The biochemical properties of edible mushrooms are still far from fully studied even today, so in the world people mostly rely on the assessment of edible and poisonous mushrooms used in the German mycological literature, which is based on practical laboratory research, especially since the biochemical properties of poisonous, and particularly dangerous, mushrooms have been studied comparatively thoroughly.

EDIBLE, OF LITTLE VALUE – mushrooms whose fruiting bodies are small and rarely found, and which, when prepared as food, have an unremarkable taste;EDIBLE, VALUABLE – mushrooms with a pleasant taste, eaten fresh, salted, pickled, frozen or otherwise prepared, not uncommon;EDIBLE, VERY VALUABLE – mushrooms with a pleasant aroma and taste, eaten fresh, dried, pickled, frozen, smoked or prepared as food in other ways, not uncommon;INEDIBLE – mushrooms that do not cause poisoning because they contain no poisonous substances, but that can cause unpleasant, painful sensations (fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea);POISONOUS – mushrooms containing mildly poisonous substances that are dangerous to human health or even life, e.g. some Amanitas, Clitocybe funnels, Tricholoma knights and Inocybe fibrecaps;VERY POISONOUS – mushrooms containing highly poisonous substances that are dangerous to human health and life, e.g. the death cap;NUTRITIONAL VALUE UNKNOWN – mushrooms that cannot be classed as poisonous, edible or inedible, and that are sometimes listed in the literature as edible and in other sources as inedible.