The raincoat mushroom belongs to the champignon family, although earlier this species was referred to as raincoat. Several varieties of raincoat are known. This mushroom is widespread. The raincoat contains many useful elements and is suitable for eating.
General characteristics of the fungus
The raincoat is popularly called in different ways: a damn apple, wolf tobacco, hare potato, powder. There are several species of this fungus, most of which are edible. When using a raincoat for food, it must be borne in mind that only young mushrooms with white and elastic pulp are suitable for this. When they age, the pulp is filled with spore powder, and the raincoat loses not only its beneficial properties, but also its taste.
The raincoat belongs to the champignon family. This mushroom is characterized by such external features:
- spherical or pear-shaped fruit body;
- dense skin on which thorns are often observed;
- lack of separation into a hat and a leg;
- white and elastic pulp.
The mushroom ages very quickly. When this happens, the flesh turns yellow, loses elasticity, becomes sticky. Subsequently, it darkens, wrinkles and is filled with spore powder.
Types of raincoats
Edible raincoat varieties are:
- Pear-shaped. The mushroom is small: up to 5.5 cm in length and width. As the name suggests, the shape of the fruit body of a raincoat resembles a pear. The outer layer is white, there are cracks or flakes on the surface.
- Prickly. This variety of raincoat mushroom has a hemispherical fruit body. A false foot stands out. On the top of the hill rises. Also on it there are small spikes that can easily be separated from the surface of the cap. While the mushroom is young, its skin is white. As it ripens, it becomes gray-brown.
- Giant. This type of raincoat is characterized by a spherical shape. When the mushroom ripens, its shell cracks. The color of the giant raincoat is white or gray-yellow. It is large in size and reaches up to 50 cm wide. The weight of such a mushroom can reach up to 7 kg.
- Brown (umber). The raincoat has the shape of a ball, its diameter is from 1 to 6 cm, its height is up to 8 cm. At a young age, the mushroom has a white color, acquires brown tones as it ripens. There are needle spikes on the brown rain hat.
Pear-shaped mushroom raincoat
Prickly mushroom raincoat
Giant mushroom raincoat
Brown mushroom raincoat
False raincoats that are inedible are also common. Unlike edible, false mushrooms of this kind have a flattened rounded shape, gray or brownish color.
Places and time of growth
Mushroom raincoat is widespread on all continents, except perhaps Antarctica. It grows everywhere: you can meet a raincoat not only in the forest, but also in meadows, clearings, gardens, along roads.
Some species of mushrooms can only be found in forests, some in glades and meadows.
Mushrooms collected along roads or near industrial enterprises should not be eaten: the raincoat has a special absorbent ability and actively absorbs various toxins.
Raincoats begin to grow from mid-May and do not disappear until October.
Methods of growing a raincoat at home
Various medical and cleansing agents are prepared from a raincoat. Also, this mushroom is actively used in cooking. You can grow this mushroom at home and be sure of its purity and benefits.
To create a raincoat plantation in a summer cottage, it is necessary to prepare the mycelium of mushrooms. It can be purchased in finished form or prepare a solution with spores. To do this, finely chopped ripened raincoats are cut, placed in cold water and left for several days, constantly stirring. Water with fungal spores will become the basis for growing raincoats.
To plant mushrooms on the site, you should:
- Dig a trench 30 cm deep and 2 m wide. The area for planting mycelium of a raincoat should be in a darkened place, under trees or a canopy.
- Pour deciduous mixture into the trench - poplar, aspen, birch leaves. On top lay the tree branches, the leaves of which were laid in the ground earlier. This layer should be no more than 2 cm.
- Tamp the layers tightly. The layer thickness should be 20 cm. Pour it all over with water.
- Pour the top with a layer of 5 cm.
- Pour inoculum mycelium over the entire area into the trench, drip drip, cover with branches.
A bed with a planted mycelium should be watered periodically. A slight excess of moisture in the ground is allowed.
When the bed is overgrown with mycelium, you should mulch it with foliage left over from last year.
You can expect the first harvest of raincoats a year after planting the mycelium.
Useful properties of a raincoat
The raincoat contains many useful substances. These are amino acids, enzymes, iron, potassium, iodine, sodium.
A ubiquitous rain cover, which is widespread, has valuable useful properties. In particular, these mushrooms:
- absorb heavy metal salts, radionuclides and toxins, removing these dangerous compounds from the body;
- fight bacteria, pathogenic fungal microorganisms;
- possess antitumor activity, inhibit the growth of malignant neoplasms;
- positively affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
- improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
- stop bleeding;
- fight kidney disease;
- strengthen immunity.
The fruit body of the raincoat contains a natural antibiotic that inhibits the activity of tubercle bacillus.
Ways to use the mushroom in cooking
Young raincoats collected in unpolluted areas can be eaten. These mushrooms can be fried, stewed, baked, pickled and salted, as well as added to various dishes.
The young raincoat does not require preliminary cooking: if you do this, then the cooking time with it will only be delayed. To prepare the raincoats, it is enough to remove the skin from them and cut the pulp into pieces of the desired size.
The following dishes can be prepared from such mushrooms:
- Mushrooms with sauce. Prepared mushrooms should be crushed in flour and lightly salt, fry until cooked in vegetable oil. To make the dish more original, you can add sauce to it. To prepare it, you need to take 2 bell peppers, chop finely, add chopped capers, pickled cucumbers and green onions. Add mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice and a little soy sauce.
- Dried mushrooms. Peel mushrooms, remove hard skin. Cut into several parts if the mushrooms are large. Raincoats need to be dried by spreading them in the sun. They can also be dried in the oven or over the oven by stringing. Use dried mushrooms as additives. The soup with dry raincoats is especially good.
- Mushrooms in sour cream. To prepare a dish with a delicate taste, you need to take 500 g of young raincoats, 200 g of sour cream, 300 g of potatoes and 2 onions. Potatoes need to be peeled and boiled in salted water. Rinse and clean mushrooms, fry in oil for 25 minutes. Peel and chop onions, fry separately. Combine the mushrooms and onions, add salt and black pepper, fry for another 15 minutes. 5 minutes before the mushrooms are ready, add sour cream. Mix everything thoroughly again and allow the ingredients to obscure over low heat.
It is necessary to prepare the collected raincoats in the near future - they, like other types of mushrooms, are "not immature."
The use of raincoat for medicinal purposes
On the basis of mushrooms, various medicinal products can also be prepared. The most common recipes of traditional medicine are:
- Tincture. To prepare, you need to take so many raincoats so that they fill a half-liter bottle by half. Pour the remaining volume of the container with vodka. The product should be infused for 40 days. Take a teaspoon before bedtime. Tincture on raincoats helps well with diseases of the kidneys and liver, stomach. Also, alcohol tincture of mushrooms is used to treat cancer.
- Powder. Raincoats need to be dried in the sun, then grind into powder. The resulting product is used to disinfect open wounds. It is enough to pour it into problem areas. Also, powder from raincoats can be used to treat a runny nose: carefully draw it into the nostrils.
- Means for external use in skin diseases. To prepare it, you need to take vodka and ordinary water in a ratio of 1: 1, mix. Pour the resulting liquid into a container (for example, a 1 liter jar) filled with mushrooms. Raincoats must be compacted tightly, their structure must collapse. The product should be infused in a cool dark place for 14 days, after which 10 drops of lavender essential oil or tea tree must be added to it.
Before proceeding with the preparation of medicinal compounds, you need to carefully sort out the mushrooms and make sure that there are no false raincoats among them.
Contraindications
A raincoat is not recommended for use in food, as well as as a raw material for the preparation of medicinal compositions in case of intolerance to the components that make up it, as well as during pregnancy and lactation, under the age of 7 years.
It is not recommended to eat a raincoat for food to those who suffer from severe kidney pathologies.
Mushroom raincoat is ubiquitous. It can be found not only in forests, but also in glades, as well as along roads. Collecting these mushrooms, you need to be able to distinguish edible from false. From raincoats, you can cook various dishes, as well as medicinal compounds.