Content
In the mushroom kingdom, the hard bentgrass (Agrocybe dura) belongs to the conditionally edible species. Some sources claim that it is not suitable for food. But, as practice shows, the fruiting body of the mushroom can be used as food and medicine.
Agrocybe can often be found in personal plots, vegetable gardens, gardens and even in greenhouses
Where does the hard field grass grow?
This type of mushroom can very often be found within the city. It grows from spring to early autumn mainly in the following places:
- lawns;
- roadsides;
- fields;
- meadows;
- gardens;
- greenhouses;
- vegetable gardens
The field mushroom has a round cap with a distinct yellow tubercle
What does a tough field worker look like?
The field mushroom has a flat white cap, with a diameter of approximately 3 cm to 10 cm. It is slightly yellowish in the center, there is a not pronounced tubercle. The cap of the field grass is almost smooth, there are no scales or any wavy formations on it. But sometimes there are remnants of the bedspread around the edges. The correct shape of the cap is found mainly in young hard bent mushrooms. Over time, it changes, seems to blur, becomes covered with cracks, from under which white cotton-like pulp can be seen.
The plates located under the cap of the field grass are smooth, clean, not too densely spaced, not white, but grayish-brown. They darken even more with age. For this reason, mushrooms are sometimes confused with champignons.
The leg of the hard field grass is thin and long, up to 12 cm long and 1 cm wide. Remnants of a white film are visible at the top. Typically has a smooth surface, but mushrooms with a shaggy or rough texture are sometimes found. The leg of the hard field grass is straight, cylindrical in shape, only slightly curved at the very end, where it connects to the ground. It may also thicken at the bottom, but this does not always occur.
The field mushroom is hard and dense to the touch. But if you cut it, there is a very small, barely noticeable cavity inside. Its flesh is white, slightly darker in the plates. It has a slight mushroom smell, quite pleasant.
With age, the shape of the caps becomes blurry, its surface becomes covered with cracks.
Is it possible to eat hard field grass?
The hard field grass belongs to the Strophariev family. Like all its relatives, the mushroom has a rather pronounced bitterness. You can't call it tasty, but it is edible. Of course, you need to take into account where the mushroom grew. And if this is a city lawn or roadside, then it is advisable not to eat fruiting bodies collected in such areas.
Taste qualities of mushroom
Because of its bitter taste, mushroom pickers usually ignore the hard vole, which is also a conditionally edible mushroom, that is, it has no special nutritional value. This mushroom is of interest to specialists in traditional medicine and pharmacologists. Contains the antibiotic agrocybin, which is active against:
- pathogenic bacteria;
- fungi.
In modern pharmacology, since the mid-twentieth century, when penicillin was discovered, every second antibiotic is now obtained from fungi. Such drugs compare favorably with synthesized drugs, as they are devoid of severe side effects. Mushrooms, including durum bentgrass, are of interest to pharmacologists for another substance contained in large quantities in their fruiting bodies.
This is chitin, a polysaccharide that is part of cell membranes. It has found wide application in both medicine and agriculture. As it turned out, this substance is an excellent sorbent, superior in quality to activated carbon. It copes well with food poisoning and other disorders of the digestive tract, and promotes rapid healing of wounds and burns.In agriculture it is used to give plants resistance against unfavorable environmental factors, for example, pests and diseases.
The early vole is like two peas in a pod and looks like agrocybe solid
False doubles
The hard vole has no poisonous counterparts. This mushroom is often confused with:
- thin-legged champignons;
- early vole.
Externally very similar. Often these fruiting bodies are collected as one species.
Collection rules
The rules for collecting mushrooms for both food and medicinal purposes are almost the same. First of all, you need to ensure that poisonous specimens and false doubles do not end up in the basket. Mushrooms intended for drying do not need to be washed, just clean them from forest debris. You should not collect overripe, moldy, rotten or gnawed fruit bodies.
If strong young mushrooms are best suited for culinary purposes, then for the preparation of medicines it is preferable to collect middle-aged fruiting bodies. The fact is that during the period of spore maturation, fungi reach the highest concentration of antimicrobial and other biologically active substances. This is how the fungal organism tries to protect the most valuable things from microbial and animal attacks coming from the outside world.
Young specimens are suitable for eating. Having just been born, they already have a sufficient amount of nutrients. What is considered growth in the future is actually not growth. This is just stretching of the fruiting bodies while maintaining the same organic composition. No new nutrients are produced anymore.
Use
Medicines created from mushrooms are usually extracts (alcoholic, aqueous) or extracts (oily, alcoholic). If you simply dry and crush the fruiting body, enclosing it in a capsule or taking it in powder or tablet, then it will release only a small part of its beneficial substances. The insoluble chitinous shell is almost impossible to digest and thereby retains the beneficial substances contained in the mushrooms. Therefore, extracts have become the main form of medicines created from mushrooms.
If there is strong bitterness, soak in cold water for about a day before cooking.
Conclusion
Polevik hard belongs to the conditionally edible mushrooms. It can be used both as food and medicine. In folk medicine, it is used as an antiseptic in the form of alcohol and water infusions.
