''Agaricus bisporus'', commonly known as the cultivated mushroom, is a
basidiomycete
Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basid ...
mushroom native to
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
s in
Eurasia
Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. It is
cultivated in more than 70 countries and is one of the most commonly and widely
consumed mushrooms in the world. It has two color states while immature – white and brown – both of which have various names, with additional names for the mature state, such as chestnut, portobello, portabellini, button and champignon de Paris.
''A. bisporus'' has some
poisonous lookalikes in the wild, such as ''
Entoloma sinuatum
''Entoloma sinuatum'' (common name, commonly known as the livid entoloma, livid agaric, livid pinkgill, leaden entoloma, and lead poisoner) is a poisonous mushroom found across Europe and North America. Some guidebooks refer to it by its older ...
''.
Description
The
pileus or cap of the original wild species is a pale grey-brown, with broad, flat scales on a paler background and fading toward the margins. It is first hemispherical before flattening out with maturity, typically measuring in diameter. The narrow, crowded
gills
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
are free and initially pink, then red-brown, and finally a dark brown with a whitish edge from the
cheilocystidia. The cylindrical
stipe is up to tall by wide and bears a thick and narrow
ring
(The) Ring(s) may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV
* ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...
, which may be streaked on the upper side. The firm flesh is white, although it stains a pale pinkish-red on bruising.
The
spore print
300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...
is dark brown. The spores are oval to round and measure approximately 4.5–5.5
μm × 5–7.5 μm, and the
basidia
A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...
usually two-spored, although two four-spored varieties have been described from the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
and the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, with predominantly
heterothallic and
homothallic lifestyles, respectively.
Similar species
The common mushroom could be confused with young specimens of a group of
lethal mushrooms in the ''
Amanita
The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded Edible mushroom, edible species (and many species of unknown edibility). The genus is re ...
'' genus referred to as
destroying angels, but the latter may be distinguished by their
volva or cup at the base of the mushroom and pure white gills (as opposed to pinkish or brown of ''A. bisporus'').
A more common and less dangerous mistake is to confuse ''Agaricus bisporus'' with ''
A. xanthodermus'', an inedible mushroom found worldwide in grassy areas. ''A. xanthodermus'' has an odor reminiscent of
phenol
Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire.
The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...
; its flesh turns yellow when bruised. This fungus causes
nausea
Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. It can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the throat.
Over 30 d ...
and vomiting in some people.
The poisonous European species ''
Entoloma sinuatum
''Entoloma sinuatum'' (common name, commonly known as the livid entoloma, livid agaric, livid pinkgill, leaden entoloma, and lead poisoner) is a poisonous mushroom found across Europe and North America. Some guidebooks refer to it by its older ...
'' has a passing resemblance but has yellowish gills, turning pink, and lacks a ring.
Taxonomy
The common mushroom has a complicated
taxonomic history. It was first described by English botanist
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (12 July 1825, in Horning, Norfolk – 12 November 1914, in Southsea, Hampshire) was an English botanist and mycologist who was, at various points, a London schoolteacher, a Kew mycologist, curator at the India Museum, jour ...
in his 1871 ''Handbook of British Fungi'', as a
variety (var. ''hortensis'') of ''
Agaricus campestris''.
Danish mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...
Jakob Emanuel Lange later reviewed a
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
specimen, and dubbed it ''Psalliota hortensis'' var. ''bispora'' in 1926.
In 1938, it was promoted to
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
status and renamed ''Psalliota bispora''.
Emil Imbach (1897–1970) imparted the current scientific name of the species, ''Agaricus bisporus'' after the genus ''Psalliota'' was renamed to ''Agaricus'' in 1946.
The
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''bispora'' distinguishes the two-spored basidia from four-spored
varieties.
Names
When immature and , this mushroom may be known as:
* common mushroom
* white mushroom
* button mushroom
* cultivated mushroom
* table mushroom
* champignon (
French for mushroom) de Paris
When immature and , it may be known variously as:
* Swiss brown mushroom
* Roman brown mushroom
* Italian brown mushroom
* cremini (also crimini) mushroom
* chestnut mushroom (not to be confused with ''
Pholiota adiposa'')
* baby bella
When marketed in its mature state, the mushroom is brown with a cap measuring .
This form is commonly sold under the names portobello,
portabella,
or portobella. The etymology is disputed.
Distribution and habitat
This mushroom is commonly found worldwide in fields and grassy areas following rain, from late spring to autumn, especially in association with
manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nut ...
.
Cultivation
Production
In 2022, world production of mushrooms (including
truffle
A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
s) was 48 million tonnes, led by China with 94% of the total (table). Japan and the United States were secondary producers.
History
The earliest scientific description of the commercial cultivation of ''A. bisporus'' was made by French botanist
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages.
Li ...
in 1707.
French agriculturist
Olivier de Serres
Olivier de Serres (; 1539–1619) was a French author and soil scientist whose '' Théâtre d'Agriculture'' (1600) was the accepted textbook of French agriculture in the 17th century.
Biography
Serres was born in 1539 at Villeneuve-de-Berg, A ...
noted that transplanting mushroom
mycelia
Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...
would lead to the propagation of more mushrooms.
Originally, cultivation was unreliable as mushroom growers would watch for good flushes of mushrooms in fields before digging up the mycelium and replanting them in beds of composted manure or inoculating 'bricks' of compressed litter,
loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
, and manure. Spawn collected this way contained pathogens, and crops would be infected or not grow. In 1893, sterilized, or pure culture, spawn was discovered and produced by the
Pasteur Institute
The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...
in Paris for cultivation on composted horse manure.
Modern commercial varieties of the common agaricus mushroom were originally light brown. The white mushroom was discovered in 1925 growing among a bed of brown mushrooms at the Keystone Mushroom Farm in
Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Coatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike ...
. Louis Ferdinand Lambert, the farm's owner and a mycologist by training, brought the white mushroom back to his laboratory. As with the reception of white bread, it was seen as a more attractive food item and became grown and distributed. Similar to the commercial development history of the
navel orange and
Red Delicious
Red Delicious is a variety of apple with a red exterior and sweet taste. Known as "the Reds" in the industry, this variety is the result of a chance seedling. It was first recognized in Madison County, Iowa, in 1872. Despite its name, it is not r ...
apple, cultures were grown from the mutant individuals. Most cream-colored store mushrooms marketed today are products of this 1925 chance natural mutation.
''A. bisporus'' is cultivated in at least seventy countries worldwide.
[
]
Nutrition
''A. bisporus'' mushrooms are 92% water, 3% carbohydrate
A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...
s, 3% protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
, and contain negligible fat
In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
The term often refers specif ...
(table).
In a reference amount of , raw white mushrooms provide of food energy
Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity.
Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...
and are an excellent source (20% or more of the Daily Value
In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...
, DV) of the B vitamins
B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell (biology), cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds.
Dietary supplements containing all eight are referr ...
riboflavin
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in ...
, niacin
Nicotinic acid, or niacin, is an organic compound and a vitamer of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It is produced by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan.
Nicotinic acid is also a prescription medication. Amounts f ...
, and pantothenic acid
Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) is a B vitamin and an essential nutrient. All animals need pantothenic acid in order to synthesize coenzyme A (CoA), which is essential for cellular energy production and for the synthesis and degradation of prote ...
(table). Fresh mushrooms are also a good source (10–19% DV) of the dietary minerals
In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essen ...
phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
and potassium
Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
(table).
While fresh ''A. bisporus'' only contains 0.2 micrograms (8 IU) of vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...
per 100 g, the ergocalciferol
Ergocalciferol, also known as vitamin D2 and nonspecifically calciferol, is a type of vitamin D found in food. It is used as a dietary supplement to prevent and treat vitamin D deficiency due to poor absorption by the intestines or liver dis ...
(D2) content increases substantially to 11.2 micrograms (446 IU) after exposure to UV light
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...
.
Gallery
See also
*
* List of ''Agaricus'' species
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
bisporus
Edible fungi
Fungi in cultivation
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Fungi described in 1926
Fungus species