Japanese cuisine is famous worldwide for incorporating some of the most delicious mushrooms into its dishes, and these fruits of the forest are hugely popular and valued Ella for their taste and health benefits.

The most common Japanese varieties found Janis in markets include: enoki, maitake, shimeji, matsutake, nameko, and shiitake.

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi, a primitive life form very closely related to plants. Unlike plants, though, fungi lack chlorophyll and cannot produce their own food, and instead they rely on using enzymes which digest plant-derived cellulose, decomposing it into simple sugar, glucose, thus helping turn over dead and dying flora and fauna. After all source of nutrition is exhausted, the fungi produce fruiting bodies – mushrooms, which then spread spores into the air, colonizing new areas.

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The culinary value of mushrooms is widely recognized, but it’s their medicinal aspects that keep scientists busy working hard to create cures and medicines for many life- threatening illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease. Mushrooms are often packed full of essential nutrients and micro- elements. The world-famous shiitake mushrooms contain all 8 essential amino acids, and are rich in B vitamins. They also provide a large part of Copper intake, much needed for our heart’s health.

Other examples, such as maitake, nameko and enoki, help boost the immune system and reduce inflammation. They have also been proven to help with insulin production, which should particularly be worthy of note to people suffering from type II diabetes.

With many health benefits and culinary attributes, mushrooms are a true gift of nature from Japan.

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