What Month Are Matsutake Mushrooms Harvested? A Detailed Guide to the Best Harvest Time

Matsutake, scientific name Tricholoma matsutake, also known as pine mushroom, Hejun, Taijun, has a unique rich aroma and is a rare and precious natural medicinal mushroom in the world. So what month are matsutake mushrooms harvested?

What month are matsutake mushrooms harvested?

Matsutake mushrooms mature during the rainy season around August to October each year, and the harvest must be timed before the cap has opened. This means that those who harvest matsutake must walk for eleven hours, all just to pick the freshest matsutake. There are also many rules when harvesting: metal tools cannot be used, and some even dig them out directly with their hands to ensure the matsutake remains intact.

Although matsutake is generally harvested in autumn, it can be eaten all year round. Fresh matsutake is usually harvested from August to October; once the season has passed, the matsutake is no longer tender and the taste suffers. Moreover, fresh matsutake needs refrigeration to stay fresh and does not keep for very long, so the best method is to dry it for storage; dried matsutake can be kept for a long time as long as it is stored in a dry place.

What is the growing environment of matsutake?

One of the things that sets matsutake apart is its requirements for the growing environment. As is well known, many edible or medicinal mushrooms are saprophytic fungi with very low or even no requirements for their environment, growing on any tree stump, whereas matsutake has nearly strict requirements for its growing environment. Matsutake is distributed in the high-altitude regions of our country, mainly in Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Shangri-La and other places, and these places all share one thing in common: no pollution. In addition, matsutake is called matsutake mainly because it parasitizes only within the root systems of plants in the Pinaceae family; this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of survival for matsutake spores, and this is also one of the reasons why matsutake yields are scarce.