Mushroom Blog

The shiitake (/ʃɪˈtɑːkeɪ, ˌʃiːɪ-, -ki/;[1] Japanese: [ɕiːtake] (About this soundlisten) Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries.  It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Shiitake grow in groups on the decaying wood of deciduous trees, particularly shii, chestnut, oak, maple, beech, sweetgum, poplar, hornbeam, ironwood, mulberry, and chinquapin.  Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in southeast Asia. In a 100 gram amount, raw shiitake mushrooms provide 34 calories and are 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 2% protein and less than 1% fat (table for raw mushrooms). 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 (table).  When dried to about 10% water, the contents of numerous nutrients increase substantially. Like all mushro