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Most of them are imported from China, followed by Japan and Korea. Shiitake mushrooms grow around trees and are nourished by them. The nutrients, along with weather, determine the form of the mushrooms. There are more than 10 types of shiitake based on their key traits.In Japan, shiitake prefer the shii tree (a kind of oak); hence, the name: shii plus the Japanese word for mushroom, take.

The shiitake (/ʃɪˈtɑːkeɪ, ˌʃiːɪ-, -ki/; Japanese: [ɕiꜜːtake] ( listen) Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine.
Shiitake
Japanese name
Kanji 椎茸 or 香蕈
Hiragana しいたけ

Is shiitake a Japanese?

The shiitake (/ʃɪˈtɑːkeɪ, ˌʃiːɪ-, -ki/; Japanese: [ɕiꜜːtake] ( listen) Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine.
Shiitake
Japanese name
Kanji 椎茸 or 香蕈
Hiragana しいたけ

Is shiitake Chinese or Japanese?

Most of them are imported from China, followed by Japan and Korea. Shiitake mushrooms grow around trees and are nourished by them. The nutrients, along with weather, determine the form of the mushrooms. There are more than 10 types of shiitake based on their key traits.

Why is shiitake called shiitake?

In Japan, shiitake prefer the shii tree (a kind of oak); hence, the name: shii plus the Japanese word for mushroom, take.

What shiitake means?

Definition of shiitake

: a dark Asian mushroom (Lentinus edodes of the family Agaricaceae) widely cultivated especially on woods of the beech family for its edible flavorful tan to brown cap.

What is Shiitake good for?

Shiitake are rich in polysaccharides like lentinans and other beta-glucans. These compounds protect against cell damage, help your immune system, and boost white blood cell production for fighting off microbes. Polysaccharides also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Is shiitake a psychedelic?

Traditional medicinal mushrooms are often associated with illicit psilocybin mushrooms that cause hallucinations, but this is incorrect. All legal medicinal mushroom species are more closely related to harmless white button mushrooms than psychoactive drugs. So no, Shiitake mushrooms do not get you high.

Is Chinese mushroom same as shiitake?

WHAT: The standard grade of Chinese dried mushrooms is known simply as Fragrant Mushroom or 香菇 (Xiang Gu) , which is also the generic term of Shiitake Mushroom in Mandarin.

What type of mushroom is in ramen?

Oyster mushrooms work particularly well in this recipe, but almost all mushrooms will make a flavorful ramen including regular button mushrooms (white and brown), maitake, shimeji, lion’s mane, and enoki.

Is black mushroom the same as shiitake?

Black mushrooms, also called shiitake mushrooms, are a staple ingredient in Chinese cuisine. The name “black” is a bit of a misnomer since the mushrooms can be light or dark brown, and even gray when dried. They are also frequently speckled. They are sold fresh but are more commonly purchased dried.

Is shiitake a wild mushroom?

Are shiitake and oyster mushrooms considered wild mushrooms? Both shiitake and oyster mushrooms are cultivated.

Which mushroom is known as Chinese mushroom?

The shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia. It is generally known in the English-speaking world by its Japanese name, shiitake listen (help·info) (kanji: 椎茸; literally “shii mushroom”, from the Japanese name of the tree that provides the dead logs on which it is typically cultivated).

Are shiitake and baby bella the same?

These little guys are also brown topped mushrooms also known as “Baby Bella’s” or portabella’s little brothers. They offer a milder flavor than a portabella or shiitake mushroom but a meatier flavor than a white mushroom.

What does shitake mean in Japanese?

Etymology. Borrowed from Japanese 椎茸 (shītake), from 椎 (shī, “shii or chinquapin tree”) + 茸 (take, “mushroom”), from the way the mushrooms tend to grow on chinquapin logs.


How to Pronounce Shiitake? (CORRECTLY)
How to Pronounce Shiitake? (CORRECTLY)


How to Pronounce Shiitake – YouTube

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Shiitake – Wikipedia

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Ask the Expert: Hunting For The Best Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

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‘A great cultural export from Asia to the rest of the world’ – Clark Now | Clark University

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‘A great cultural export from Asia to the rest of the world’ – Clark Now | Clark University

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An international effort

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The shiitake revered worldwide

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‘A great cultural export from Asia to the rest of the world’ – Clark Now | Clark University

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An international effort

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The shiitake revered worldwide

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How to pronounce shiitake mushroom | HowToPronounce.com

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shiitake – Wiktionary

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How to Pronounce shiitake – (Audio) | Britannica Dictionary

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Wikipedia

Species of edible mushroom

Species of fungus

The shiitake ( ;[1] Japanese: [ɕiꜜːtake] () Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine.

Taxonomy and naming [ edit ]

The fungus was first described scientifically as Agaricus edodes by Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1877.[2] It was placed in the genus Lentinula by David Pegler in 1976.[3] The fungus has acquired an extensive synonymy in its taxonomic history:[4]

Agaricus edodes Berk. (1878)

Berk. (1878) Armillaria edodes (Berk.) Sacc. (1887)

(Berk.) Sacc. (1887) Mastoleucomychelloes edodes (Berk.) Kuntze (1891)

(Berk.) Kuntze (1891) Cortinellus edodes (Berk.) S.Ito & S.Imai (1938)

(Berk.) S.Ito & S.Imai (1938) Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Singer (1941)

(Berk.) Singer (1941) Collybia shiitake J.Schröt. (1886)

J.Schröt. (1886) Lepiota shiitake (J.Schröt.) Nobuj. Tanaka (1889)

(J.Schröt.) Nobuj. Tanaka (1889) Cortinellus shiitake (J.Schröt.) Henn. (1899)

(J.Schröt.) Henn. (1899) Tricholoma shiitake (J.Schröt.) Lloyd (1918)

(J.Schröt.) Lloyd (1918) Lentinus shiitake (J.Schröt.) Singer (1936)

(J.Schröt.) Singer (1936) Lentinus tonkinensis Pat. (1890)

Pat. (1890) Lentinus mellianus Lohwag (1918)

The mushroom’s Japanese name shiitake (椎茸) is composed of shii (椎, Castanopsis), for the tree Castanopsis cuspidata that provides the dead logs on which it is typically cultivated, and take (茸, “mushroom”).[5] The specific epithet edodes is the Latin word for “edible”.[6]

It is also commonly called “sawtooth oak mushroom”, “black forest mushroom”, “black mushroom”, “golden oak mushroom”, or “oakwood mushroom”.[7]

Habitat and distribution [ edit ]

Shiitake grow in groups on the decaying wood of deciduous trees, particularly shii and other chinquapins, chestnut, oak, maple, beech, sweetgum, poplar, hornbeam, ironwood, and mulberry. Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in Southeast Asia.[5]

Cultivation history [ edit ]

The earliest written record of shiitake cultivation is seen in the Records of Longquan County (龍泉縣志) compiled by He Zhan (何澹) in 1209 during the Song dynasty in China.[8] The 185-word description of shiitake cultivation from that literature was later cross-referenced many times and eventually adapted in a book by a Japanese horticulturist Satō Chūryō (佐藤中陵) in 1796, the first book on shiitake cultivation in Japan.[9] The Japanese cultivated the mushroom by cutting shii trees with axes and placing the logs by trees that were already growing shiitake or contained shiitake spores.[10][11] Before 1982, the Japan Islands’ variety of these mushrooms could only be grown in traditional locations using ancient methods.[12] A 1982 report on the budding and growth of the Japanese variety revealed opportunities for commercial cultivation in the United States.[13]

Shiitake are now widely cultivated all over the world, and contribute about 25% of total yearly production of mushrooms.[14] Commercially, shiitake mushrooms are typically grown in conditions similar to their natural environment on either artificial substrate or hardwood logs, such as oak.[13][14][15]

Culinary [ edit ]

Nutrition [ edit ]

In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) reference serving, raw shiitake mushrooms provide 141 kilojoules (34 kilocalories) of food energy and are 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 2% protein and less than 1% fat. Raw shiitake mushrooms are rich sources (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of B vitamins and contain moderate levels of some dietary minerals.

Like all mushrooms, shiitakes produce vitamin D2 upon exposure of their internal ergosterol to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from sunlight or broadband UVB fluorescent tubes.[16][17][18]

In 2015, a study with 52 adults indicated that regular consumption of shiitake can result in improved immunity.[19]

Uses [ edit ]

Fresh and dried shiitake have many uses in East Asian cuisine. In Japan, they are served in miso soup, used as the basis for a kind of vegetarian dashi, and as an ingredient in many steamed and simmered dishes. In Chinese cuisine, they are often sautéed in vegetarian dishes such as Buddha’s delight.

One type of high-grade shiitake is called donko (冬菇) in Japanese[20] and dōnggū in Chinese, literally “winter mushroom”. Another high-grade of mushroom is called huāgū (花菇) in Chinese, literally “flower mushroom”, which has a flower-like cracking pattern on the mushroom’s upper surface. Both of these are produced at lower temperatures.

Research [ edit ]

Dermatitis [ edit ]

Rarely, consumption of raw or slightly cooked shiitake mushrooms may cause an allergic reaction called “shiitake dermatitis”, including an erythematous, micro-papular, streaky pruriginous rash that occurs all over the body including face and scalp, appearing about 24 hours after consumption, possibly worsening by sun exposure and disappearing after 3 to 21 days.[21] This effect – presumably caused by the polysaccharide, lentinan[21] – is more common in East Asia,[22] but may be growing in occurrence in Europe as shiitake consumption increases.[21] Thorough cooking may eliminate the allergenicity.[23]

Other uses [ edit ]

There is research investigating the use of shiitake mushrooms in production of organic fertilizer and compost from hardwood.[14][15]

Gallery [ edit ]

Fresh shiitake mushroom in the vegetable market at Hong Kong

Shiitake growing wild in Hokkaido

Korean pyogo-bokkeum (stir-fried shiitake mushroom)

Japanese ekiben shiitake-meshi (椎茸めし)

Timelapse video of shiitake growth

Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the shiitake mushroom

Young shiitake mushrooms on a log

References [ edit ]

Citations [ edit ]

Ask the Expert: Hunting For The Best Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

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Some eyebrows might be raised if dried shiitake mushrooms are missing from a celebratory feast during the Chinese New Year, as the shiitake is especially prominently featured in Cantonese cuisine. Steamed with pork patties or chicken, braised with oyster sauce, stacked among the many layers of poon choi, there are countless ways to extract the deep flavours from the aromatic fungus.

Since it’s such a symbol of the festive season, dried shiitake is naturally a popular gift for Chinese New Year. But here comes the question: As you take a walk down the shops in Kennedy Town selling dried Chinese gourmet ingredients, pile after pile of mushrooms in all sizes and thickness, wait. Choosing the most appropriate mushrooms for your use isn’t always so easy. We got in touch with someone who has extensive experience in this field to walk us through what we should look for.

Mostly imported from Japan and China, there are many varieties of dried shiitake with varying characteristics. Lee gave us an overview below: Albert Lee is the third-generation owner of the dried Chinese gourmet shop Tung Cheong. It was founded in Guangzhou in 1915 and subsequently moved to Kennedy Town in the 60s. When Lee took over, he brought in modern marketing strategies to keep the century-old brand at the forefront of the business. Its Facebook page has more than 70,000 followers and contains videos that teach viewers to distinguish the quality of dried goods.Mostly imported from Japan and China, there are many varieties of dried shiitake with varying characteristics. Lee gave us an overview below:

How Many Types of Shiitakes Are There?

The dried shiitake mushrooms available in Hong Kong can be catergorised by their origins and forms. Most of them are imported from China, followed by Japan and Korea. Shiitake mushrooms grow around trees and are nourished by them. The nutrients, along with weather, determine the form of the mushrooms. There are more than 10 types of shiitake based on their key traits. From the highest quality to the lowest, they are flower mushrooms, thick mushrooms and winter mushrooms.

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Flower mushroom : the mushroom cap bears apparent cracks (locally known as “baau fa”). It’s priced at $300-400 per catty (about 600 grams in Hong Kong).

: the mushroom cap bears apparent cracks (locally known as “baau fa”). It’s priced at $300-400 per catty (about 600 grams in Hong Kong). Tea flower mushroom : the cap of tea flower mushroom is less scored. It’s priced at $200-300 each catty.

: the cap of tea flower mushroom is less scored. It’s priced at $200-300 each catty. White flower mushroom : This is the highest rated shiitake because it has the greatest level of “baau fa.” It costs $500-700 per catty.

: This is the highest rated shiitake because it has the greatest level of “baau fa.” It costs $500-700 per catty. Inch mushroom : Inch mushroom is so called because it’s less than one inch in size; the inch mushroom with “baau fa” is called flower inch mushroom. The price level is around $200-300 per catty.

: Inch mushroom is so called because it’s less than one inch in size; the inch mushroom with “baau fa” is called flower inch mushroom. The price level is around $200-300 per catty. Thick mushroom : It has a thicker mushroom cap than other varieties. Thick flower mushroom carries “bauu fa.” Prices range from $200 to $300.

: It has a thicker mushroom cap than other varieties. Thick flower mushroom carries “bauu fa.” Prices range from $200 to $300. Winter mushroom: This variety doesn’t have any cracks on the surface. It costs $100-200 per catty.

Tea flower mushroom. (Credit: Chen Jia Nan.)

Which Variety Is the Most Delicious?

Other than a smooth texture, good mushrooms should smell rich and sharp. Growing from a quality, well-nourished tree, the shiitake would understandably be bigger and taste better. In addition, cold weather helps the shiitake to conserve nutrients. If there is frost or low humidity, the mushroom cap would crack and its fragrance would be intensified. That’s why a large, thick and rough mushroom with “baau fa” is more prestigious.

Origin and storage time are also important factors of consideration. In general, the Japanese shiitake is the best. Korean shiitake ranks second, and the Chinese ones third. The mushrooms are best eaten within a year of its harvest. The longer it’s kept, the more the fragrance disappears. Further to that, even dried shiitake carries a small amount of moisture. It could get mouldy after for an extended period.

White flower mushroom has the highest level of “baau fa,” or cracks in the mushroom cap. (Credit: Chen Jia Nan.)

Is the Mushroom Better if It’s More Expensive?

It depends on how the mushroom is paired with which food. For steamed fish, it’s not fitting to use shiitake that tastes too strong because it would overshadow the fish’s flavour. A lighter mushroom would be better in this case. Old Cantonese recipes call for a shiitake variety named “Xiangxin.” It’s grown in a short amount of time due to warm weather, with the temperature rising above 20°C for more than 10 days in a row. Xiangxin’s texture is cheaper ($70/catty) and less soft compared to flower mushroom. But the light fragrance is a great match to steamed fish dishes. If you have large and thick mushrooms in hand, braising is the best method of preparation to keep them smooth and tender.

Xiangxin mushroom is most suited for steamed fish dishes. (Credit: Chen Jia Nan)

Should We Buy Heavier or Lighter Mushrooms?

Between two mushrooms of the same size, choose the one that is lighter. Dried shiitake has 5 to 7 percent of moisture, and heavier mushrooms have higher moisture content. When the humid weather hits, those would be more prone to get moldy. Lightweight mushrooms indicate the drying process was done better, and its aroma would be more stable. While you’re at the shop, try to pick up the mushrooms and compare them.

Is Japanese Shiitake Superior to Others?

That’s correct. In Japan, the mushroom growers drill holes in a whole piece of wood and plant the hyphae of the shiitake inside. Afterwards, they move the wood to a humid spot in the forest and water it regularly. In cold weather, the growers would cover it up to ensure the steady growth of the shiitake.

The other regions grow shiitake on mixed wood shavings in a plastic bag, which is placed in the greenhouse. The benefits of this approach are the short growing time and large amount of output. But that can’t compete with the nutrients Japanese shiitake get from an intact piece of wood and the natural surroundings. You can smell the difference when you put the Japanese shiitake close to your nose.

This article was written by Chen Jia Nan and translated by Vincent Leung. Click here to read the original version of this story.

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‘A great cultural export from Asia to the rest of the world’

Over the past decade, specialty mushrooms, especially shiitake, have won over Americans. Renowned food writer and Clark University alumnus Mark Bittman ’71 hailed the increased availability of shiitake for American cooks. Meanwhile, a Boston chef-turned-wholesaler recalled that in the 1990s, “nobody knew what a shiitake mushroom was. … Today, even Domino’s is advertising shiitake pizza, so we’ve reached a tipping point.”

First cultivated in China between 1000 and 1100 A.D., the shiitake is revered in Asia for its culinary and reputed medicinal qualities. It’s the second most cultivated mushroom in the world, and in the United States, shiitake mushroom farming has jumped almost 20 percent in two years. It’s now a $33 million market nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Northeast boasts a number of shiitake growers who are turning a tidy profit.

But to Clark University biologists and co-principal investigators David Hibbett and John Gibbons and their international research partners, the shiitake is more than a key ingredient in Japanese nabe soup or a Bittman recipe. The shiitake, with the scientific name of Lentinula eddodes, also presents researchers with a way to understand the genetic diversity, evolution and global spread of a species – and the naming process that has helped humans grasp the complexity of life around them.

Furthermore, their research into shiitake “could inform biofuel production,” Hibbett says. Shiitake break down lignin, the cellular material forming the tough, fibrous parts of wood, and “lignin is the major barrier to … producing bioethanol from coarse plant material.”

The researchers, therefore, won Community Science Program support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, which will provide “invaluable” services — DNA and RNA sequencing, bioinformatics and other analytical work to unlock the information encoded in shiitake genomes, according to Hibbett. The DNA molecule stores a cell’s genetic information; the RNA transmits this information when a cell produces proteins.

The biologists want to understand how and when the shiitake — whether wild or cultivated — spread throughout the world, how wild shiitake are related to cultivated versions and how genetically diverse the species is. To better grasp this evolutionary and biogeographic history, they will study the whole genomes — containing the complete DNA and genes of each organism — in shiitake and other closely related species of Lentinula.

“We are going to generate high-quality reference genomes, and with those in hand, we will screen many cultivars [shiitake samples cultivated and selected for desired characteristics] to find out what the genetic diversity is,” Hibbett explains.

“We’ll use the Lentinula genomes to study the genetics of decay … and try to understand how the ability to decay wood varies and evolves,” he adds. “And some of our partners will study shitake mushrooms as they grow, so they will isolate the RNA from the developing mushrooms to try to understand the developmental genetics.”

An international effort

According to the project’s proposal, “this will be the first in-depth genomic survey of any genus of wood-decaying Agaricomycetes,” which includes most of the world’s mushrooms.

The more than 200 strains of shiitake and its relatives that will be analyzed in the project come from across the globe. The cultivated shiitake occurs in Asia, but species of Lentinula can be found everywhere except Europe, Africa and the polar regions — “as far as we know, that is,” Hibbett notes. “It’s one of the organisms that we humans have domesticated and brought all over the world.”

The project’s 24 researchers likewise hail from across the globe: Japan, Brazil, China, Spain, France, Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States.

“This is truly an international collaboration,” Hibbett says. “This project and others at Clark rely on these international networks of faculty working together.”

The research partners also are traveling overseas for the project.

Hibbett will head to Kyoto this fall to connect with collaborators at a meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan. Meanwhile, his lab hosted Kazuhisa Terashima, a research associate from Japan’s Tottori Mycological Institute (TMI), the world’s leading center for shiitake research; his visit was sponsored, in part, by Clark’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research. And in early June, Noemia Kazue Ishikawa, a visiting researcher at Clark for the past six months, traveled to TMI on a research exchange; she just returned to her work at the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil.

As part of her research for the Center for Integrated Studies of Amazon Biodiversity, Ishikawa is involved in a sustainable agriculture effort with the Yanomami Indians of the Amazon. To support their communities, they are harvesting a native species of shiitake —Lentinula raphanica — and selling the mushrooms and mushroom powder to high-end restaurants. Samples of these shiitake are being used in the research project.

“These international collaborations are critical to research innovation and a testament to Professor Hibbett’s stature as a leading scholar in this area,” says Nancy Budwig, associate provost and dean of research at Clark.

The Japan connection

Hibbett’s interest in shiitake stems from his doctoral research, as well as his post-doctoral study at TMI in 1991-92. He published several articles on shiitake, but after 2001 he moved on to other subjects. For him, this more recent shiitake project is a return to familiar territory.

But Hibbett’s ties to Japan go even deeper. His maternal grandparents are from Okinawa, the southernmost archipelago of Japan, and this fall he will return to the islands with his mother, now 91, for a special festival on the Okinawan diaspora. His father, born in the United States and of European descent, is an expert in Japanese literature and an emeritus faculty member for Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies.

This story is part of our 7 Continents, 1 Summer series, which highlights the interesting work that Clark students, faculty, alumni and staff are doing all over the world. Have a great story of your own to share? Let us know and we’ll be in touch.

Before and during World War II, Hibbett’s mother and her parents lived in California, but they left just in time to escape the U.S. government’s incarceration of Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Meanwhile, his father studied Japanese at Harvard and joined the Army.

He “was recruited by the U.S. government to translate intercepted Japanese messages, so it’s kind of funny that later I found myself being paid by the U.S. government to study Japanese,” thanks to a National Science Foundation grant during graduate school, “but for completely different reasons — economic and scientific competition, not military,” Hibbett says.

Over the years, Hibbett has continued to receive support from the federal government, including the Joint Genome Institute, for his basic research on fungal genetics and evolution. He studies white-rot fungi, which break down lignin. By helping decay rotting wood, white-rot fungi have played an important role in the cycling of carbon between living things and the environment for some 290 million years, according to his research. Shiitake are a white-rot fungi, but scientists have not yet pinpointed when they first emerged.

In Japan, shiitake prefer the shii tree (a kind of oak); hence, the name: shii plus the Japanese word for mushroom, take. The farmers committed to quality use “log cultivation methods to grow superb mushrooms” by inserting shiitake spawn into holes drilled in logs, Hibbett explains. But large-scale, industrial farms, mostly in China, use cheaper, quicker methods, growing shiitake on bags filled with sawdust and wheat or rice bran.

In the United States, many small-scale farmers have adopted the more traditional approach, using logs from oak, maple and other hardwood trees to grow shiitake.

The shiitake: revered worldwide

When Terashima visited Clark recently, he accompanied Hibbett and Ishikawa to shiitake farms in Massachusetts and saw how Americans have adopted the Japanese methods of growing shiitake.

Because shiitake cultivation is a multibillion-dollar global market, there could be a lot of interest in the researchers’ findings.

“I’m interested in the international movement of cultivars to cause problems,” Hibbett says. “When people move cultivars around, they do so using a very high density of spores, so you have the potential to have escapes of cultivars. That may have already happened in Asia, where people have been growing shiitake for a long time.”

Biologists are concerned that escaped cultivars could “replace or interbreed with the native populations,” ultimately reducing the diversity of wild shiitake, he explains. “That should be a concern for the people in the shiitake industry because the wild shiitake are sources of genetic diversity” that might benefit commercial cultivation or lead to disease resistance.

It’s easiest to explain in terms of people. We’re fascinated to understand where we came from. Biologists want to answer the same questions about other species and about whole biotas [animals and plants of particular regions or habitats]. — David Hibbett

The researchers also are interested in the taxonomy — the classification and naming — of the shiitake. Hibbett already has explored the shiitake’s taxonomy as part of his dissertation on mushrooms falling under the genus Lentinus. Shiitake mushrooms have a long, involved history of evolving names and classifications reaching back to the late 19th century; in 1976, a biologist switched the shiitake from the genus Lentinus to a new genus he called Lentinula, based on morphology and anatomy; Hibbett’s doctoral research, using molecular methods, supported that taxonomic transfer.

But why are biologists so interested in the historical naming of a species?

“It’s easiest to explain in terms of people,” Hibbett says. “We’re fascinated to understand where we came from. Biologists want to answer the same questions about other species and about whole biotas [animals and plants of particular regions or habitats]. Why do the forests in northeast Asia resemble those of eastern North America? It really has to do with understanding why the natural world has the distribution it does” and whether “the historical patterns tell us anything about historical barriers to movement and how that might affect the movement of organisms today.”

Because of the shiitake’s significance in Asian culture and cuisine, immigrants transported spores from their homelands to grow mushrooms in their adopted countries. For example, Hibbett says, “Noemia told me that her grandfather brought shiitake when he immigrated to Brazil.”

Hibbett has firsthand experience with Asians’ adoration of shiitake. In 1994, while researching shiitake mushrooms, he traveled to China’s Zhejiang Province, where the first shiitake are said to have been cultivated by Wu San Kwung during the Sung Dynasty (960-1127 AD). The Chinese deified Wu long ago and opened a temple in his honor.

When Hibbett and other researchers attended a shiitake conference in Wu’s village, home to his temple, the Chinese asked them to assemble in the lobby of the Mushroom Town Hotel.

“We step out into the bright sun, and the townspeople all are lined up along the sides of the road, and the high school band is playing, and all along the parade route are children dressed up as mushrooms,” Hibbett recalls. “We get the gymnasium, and there’s this two-hour ceremony. It was like the opening of the Olympics.”

He keeps a ceramic Wu figurine in his lab as a whimsical reminder of the mushroom’s significance. “The shiitake is a great cultural export from Asia to the rest of the world.”

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