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Magnificent mushrooms
South Africa
Tuesday 10 March 2009
White button mushrooms seem to have as much antioxidant properties as other mushrooms, according to Jean-Michel Savoie, lead author of a study published recently in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
The bottom line is that all mushrooms have health benefits and they contain nutrients like potassium, copper and niacin, so there is no need to seek out exotic, expensive kinds.
Mushrooms are also environmentally friendly.
The South African mushroom industry, under the auspices of the SA Mushroom Farmers' Association (Samfa), recycles most of the materials it uses.
The straw in the mushroom substrate is an agricultural by-product which used to be burnt, causing major pollution. It is now worked back into the soil as fertiliser and mulch.
The bottom line is that all mushrooms have health benefits and they contain nutrients like potassium, copper and niacin, so there is no need to seek out exotic, expensive kinds.
Mushrooms are also environmentally friendly.
The South African mushroom industry, under the auspices of the SA Mushroom Farmers' Association (Samfa), recycles most of the materials it uses.
The straw in the mushroom substrate is an agricultural by-product which used to be burnt, causing major pollution. It is now worked back into the soil as fertiliser and mulch.
"We believe that today's consumers are concerned about the environment and their personal health and well-being," says Samfa chairperson, Ross Richardson, "and that is why the South African mushroom industry no longer uses local peat as a substrate for mushroom production.
"Peat is valuable and, in the southern hemisphere, a scarce resource. Today, most of South Africa's mushroom production relies on imported peat from the northern hemisphere (found there in abundance) or environmentally friendly alternative casing materials such as wattle bark and coir fibre."
"Peat is valuable and, in the southern hemisphere, a scarce resource. Today, most of South Africa's mushroom production relies on imported peat from the northern hemisphere (found there in abundance) or environmentally friendly alternative casing materials such as wattle bark and coir fibre."
