Enoki Mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) of the Agaricales Order: Growing Environment, Edible Benefits, Food Pairings and Cultivation Techniques

Enoki mushroom, also known as velvet shank, winter mushroom, and hackberry mushroom, belongs to the order Agaricales, family Tricholomataceae, genus Flammulina. It is a type of fungus, algae and lichen, and has high medicinal and dietary therapeutic value. So, where does enoki mushroom grow? What benefits does eating it have? What can it be eaten with? What cultivation techniques are there?

I. Where does enoki mushroom grow?

Enoki mushroom is widely distributed in nature, found in China, Japan, Russia, Europe, North America, Australia and other places. In China, it is suitable for growth from Heilongjiang in the north to Yunnan in the south, and from Jiangsu in the east to Xinjiang in the west.

Enoki mushroom does not contain chlorophyll, does not carry out photosynthesis, and cannot manufacture carbohydrates, but it can grow entirely in a dark environment. It must absorb ready-made organic substances from the culture medium, such as the degradation products of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is a saprophytic nutritional type, a heterotrophic organism, and belongs to the basidiomycetes. Enoki mushroom is a wood-saprophytic fungus, and readily grows on the dead trunks and stumps of broadleaf trees such as willow, elm and white poplar.

II. What benefits does eating it have?

1. Enoki mushroom contains a fairly complete range of the amino acids essential to the human body, among which lysine and arginine are especially abundant, and its zinc content is relatively high. It has a good effect on enhancing intelligence, especially on children's height and intellectual development, and is known as the “intelligence-boosting mushroom”;

2. Enoki mushroom also contains a substance called flammulin, which enhances the body's ability to resist cancer cells. Regular consumption of enoki mushroom can also lower cholesterol, prevent liver disease and gastrointestinal ulcers, strengthen the body's vital energy, and prevent disease and promote fitness;

3. Enoki mushroom can effectively enhance the body's biological activity, promote internal metabolism, facilitate the absorption and utilization of various nutrients in food, and is also greatly beneficial to growth and development, thus earning the fine names “intelligence-boosting mushroom” and “Ikkyu mushroom”;

4. Enoki mushroom can inhibit the rise of blood lipids, lower cholesterol, and prevent and treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases;

5. Eating enoki mushroom has the effects of resisting fatigue, being antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, removing heavy metal salts, and fighting tumors.

6. Regular consumption of enoki mushroom can not only prevent and treat liver disease and gastric and intestinal ulcers, but is also suitable for people with high blood pressure, obese people and middle-aged and elderly people, mainly because it is a high-potassium, low-sodium food.

III. What can it be eaten with?

1. Enoki mushroom + chicken = boosts qi and nourishes blood

2. Enoki mushroom + tofu = boosts intelligence and strengthens the body, lowers blood sugar

3. Enoki mushroom + broccoli = enhances the liver's detoxification ability, improves body immunity

IV. What cultivation techniques are there?

When cultivating enoki mushroom using natural temperatures, choosing a suitable production season is an important part of obtaining high quality and high yield.

Enoki mushroom belongs to the low-temperature type of fungi. The mycelium growth range is 7-30°C, with 23°C being optimal; the fruiting body differentiation and development range is 3-18°C, with growth best at 12-13°C. When the temperature is below 3°C, the cap turns maltose-colored and deformed mushrooms appear.

Artificial cultivation should be timed according to the local natural temperature. Inoculating in late autumn in the south and mid-autumn in the north makes full use of natural temperatures for mycelium incubation and cultivation. After the mycelium reaches physiological maturity, the weather gradually turns cold and the temperature drops, which is precisely the low-temperature climate suitable for fruiting body growth and development. The provinces south of the Yangtze River usually inoculate between October and November, and after about 1 month of mycelium incubation, enter the mushroom-producing stage between November and December. In mountainous areas at high altitude with lower temperatures and in the provinces north of the Yangtze River, inoculation can be moved earlier to September, with mushrooms produced in November; inoculation can also be done in early spring, with heating for mycelium incubation and mushrooms grown in spring. In low-altitude plain areas, inoculation should be appropriately delayed. To meet market demand for enoki mushroom in summer, cold storage can be used to produce enoki mushroom.