Is it possible to eat black champignons under the cap and inside, is it possible to cook them, what to do in case of poisoning

One of the most popular and beloved mushrooms is champignons. They are widely used in cooking - they are salted, pickled, fried, stewed, baked, added to soups, salads and other dishes. Champignons are famous for their delicate taste and pleasant aroma, so it is not at all surprising that not a single festive table can do without such an ingredient.

But often, after storing mushrooms for a long time in the refrigerator, the housewife sees that the champignons are black under the cap. In these cases, it is important to know why mushrooms turn black and whether they can be used as food after the color changes.

Causes of darkening of mushrooms

If champignons were grown under artificial conditions, then they are relatively harmless to the body. They are allowed to be eaten raw. If you decide to consume thermally untreated fruiting bodies, they must be fresh. Mushrooms of questionable quality should not be eaten. Not only will they not bring any benefit, but they can also cause severe harm to your body.

Many housewives, after purchasing mushrooms, put them in the refrigerator to protect them from spoilage. Literally the next day, the question arises why dark spots form on the fruiting bodies.

Such changes can be explained by several reasons:

unsealed packaging. Do not store in open packaging;
low temperature.

The mushroom may also turn black due to old age. Most likely, it was stored for a long time and the expiration date has expired. Stale and old fruiting bodies are characterized by the presence of toxins and harmful substances. They lead to intoxication and malfunction of vital organs.

Video: How to choose fresh champignons

If champignons are black under the cap: is it safe to eat such mushrooms?

Can blackened champignons be eaten?

Even if champignons have darkened after prolonged storage, they may remain edible. The main signs that they have become unfit for consumption are:

Specific unpleasant odor.
An unpleasant sticky layer on the surface.
If the records start to rot.
Excessively large or dark spots on the surface of the product.

In these cases, throw them away without hesitation : the risk of serious food poisoning is too great.

In many situations, store-bought mushrooms become darkened due to storage at too low a temperature or in unsealed packaging, but this fact does not in any way affect the nutritional suitability of the product.

They are allowed to be used for culinary purposes after heat treatment. To do this, they need to be boiled in salted water for at least 10 minutes, then fried in a frying pan. This will not deteriorate the taste characteristics of the mushrooms.

You will receive a truly tasty and safe product.

Before purchasing, be sure to make sure that the champignons have been on the counter for no more than 72 hours. In this case, they are completely safe and allowed for consumption. If the shelf life exceeds 3 days, it is better to refuse such a purchase.

Forest champignons

If you are a fan of “quiet hunting,” you have probably noticed that after a few hours a caught mushroom may darken. When answering the question whether it is possible to eat blackened champignons, you should pay special attention to the following point.

Of course, when it just crumbles in your hands or is black inside, throw it away without regret.

If the color of the mushroom cap is brown, and when broken, the champignon remains white and clean, this means that it is edible and completely edible, just that an oxidation reaction occurred after cutting.

A dense, elastic, but darkened plate on the bottom side is a sign that the mushrooms can be cooked in the usual way.

Champignons are not poisonous, but it is important to remember: these mushrooms have the property of “sponges”; they absorb all harmful substances from the environment, which can cause serious harm to the body.

Signs of spoiled raw champignons

If you want to reveal the degree of freshness and spoilage of raw champignons, then you need to pay attention to the following features:

Color. If the mushroom is normal, then its color will be white or cream. In rare cases, it may be pink. A blackened mushroom indicates an expired product. Champignons are also characterized by a matte skin tone. If it changes to glossy, it means the product is spoiled and unfit for consumption.
Features of the hat. In young mushrooms it should be streamlined and glossy. There may be small scales on the surface. If yellow or black spots appear on the cap, it means the product has been damaged. Old mushrooms may have a flat surface. The bottom of the cap should be brown.
The presence of a plate between the cap and the stem. If it is damaged and open, it means that the mushroom was collected a long time ago and has already deteriorated.
Leg cut. If it is dark and dry, it means the fruiting body is spoiled.
Smell. It’s normal if the smell of the mushroom is pleasant and aromatic. If there is a smell of dampness, rot or chemicals, the product should not be used as food.
Surface density. Fresh mushrooms are characterized by elasticity. If the surface is slippery, it means the mushrooms are spoiled.
Pulp. If you open the inner fiber and look at the cut, it should have a light shade. Darkening indicates spoilage of the product.

All varieties of mushrooms grown in the forest absorb a lot of toxins, salts and radiation, so buy only those products that are grown in ecological conditions.

How to tell if champignons have gone bad: they’ve turned black, yellowed, can you eat them?

Mushrooms often lose their quality and freshness and are not suitable for consumption. Among the perishables, champignons are distinguished. When purchasing, it is not always possible to immediately understand that champignons have already spoiled and are not suitable for use for culinary purposes.

Signs of spoilage of champignons

Signs of spoiled fresh champignons

Fresh champignons that have lost their attractive appearance are acceptable for cooking for food purposes if they:

the color is close to white or has a pink tint and a matte sheen, not yellowed;
have a velvety or smooth cap without black or yellow spots on its surface;
preserved a solid film in the area between the mushroom stem and cap (private cover);
have dense mushroom plates of white-pink color;
on the cut, the legs darkened, but did not turn black;
smell of their inherent mushroom smell.

Mushrooms that have slightly lost their freshness are acceptable for use after heat treatment, but should not be consumed raw.

Fresh champignon is white, with a glossy surface, elastic and hard in structure. Shelf life at room temperature is up to 6 hours.

The following features help to understand that mushrooms are no longer “first fresh”, or to determine that they are overgrown and have lost their beneficial properties:

the color is dark, without a characteristic shine;
flat cap;
sticky or slippery surface of the mushroom cap;
broken film in the area between the mushroom stem and cap;
loose dark mushroom plates;
blackness on the cut mushroom stem;
smell of rot or mold.

Such mushrooms must be immediately destroyed and are not suitable for food use in any form.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

If you notice that the mushroom cap has acquired a dark shade, and the cut flesh is the same white or pinkish shade, the mushroom can be eaten. In this case, darkening only indicates that the fruiting bodies are simply weathered. Such darkening will be safe, but only until mucus appears on the surface of the cap. Then you need to give up mushrooms.

If the darkened mushrooms have plates on the underside of the cap that are dense to the touch, but only darkened a little, the mushrooms are cooked as usual. But if the plates become unrealistically dark and at the same time wet to the touch, it is better to throw away the mushrooms.

To preserve fresh champignons so that they do not spoil and are suitable for consumption, wrapping them in paper and storing them in this form on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, without prior washing and cleaning, helps. The refrigerator prolongs their freshness up to 5 days.

Signs of spoiled canned champignons

It is better to throw away suspicious mushrooms

Canned mushrooms have an extended shelf life, but if the preservation technology is violated under the influence of pathogenic bacteria, they can deteriorate in a short period of time.

The following will tell you that canned champignons have spoiled and are not suitable for food:

cloudiness of the marinade or saline solution (peculiar inclusions become noticeable in it);
swelling of the metal lid of the jar, which is provoked by gases released by actively reproducing microorganisms (when pressed, it is pressed);
air bubbles rising from the bottom inside, which signals the beginning of the fermentation process;
acrid “carbonated” (in the nose) smell when opening the can;
mucus or pieces of mold on products removed from the jar.

Any of the above signs is a reason to throw away the mushrooms.

Even in the absence of external symptoms of the fermentation process and others indicating a violation of the canning technology and the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, canned food with an expired expiration date and with violation of storage conditions, under which the temperature should not exceed +30°C, are not suitable for consumption.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

There is another sign of spoilage in canned champignons (and other mushrooms too) - a sour taste.

However, as long-term statistical data on poisoning from spoiled canned products show, when preservation technology is violated or stale raw materials are used, botulism bacillus, a deadly disease, develops in the marinade under favorable conditions.

Therefore, you should not taste spoiled canned mushrooms - this will only lead to serious food poisoning. Since such a product cannot be rehabilitated, it is better to destroy it.

To prevent this from happening, approach the process of preserving mushrooms very carefully and responsibly, because the health and well-being of loved ones is the happiness of every woman.

Signs of spoilage in frozen champignons

Frozen champignons also spoil if the conditions for their freezing or subsequent storage in the freezer are not met. The freshness of frozen mushrooms is checked as follows:

probe the bag for the absence of frozen lumps, the presence of which indicates re-freezing, as a result of which the mushrooms become unfit for consumption;
analyze storage conditions under which the temperature level in the refrigerator is maintained at -18°C;
check the mushrooms for strength (no crumbling), appearance (they have not turned black, no spots) and smell (characteristic mushroom, no rot).

Most often, this is done by buyers in a supermarket when they are not sure of the quality of the products offered. Housewives check frozen champignons for spoilage much less often if, for reasons beyond their control, there have been long-term power outages.

Storage rules

If you picked mushrooms in the forest yourself, you must first wash and clean them. To increase shelf life, you need to pickle, salt or dry them. This will allow you to preserve the taste, aroma and beneficial properties for a long time. You can use the preparations at any time to prepare a delicious dish (they can be boiled, fried and stewed).

Pay attention to how you can store champignons in the refrigerator.
If desired, you can also place fresh champignons in the freezer. First, they need to be soaked for 30 minutes in clean water. After this, cooking is carried out for 40 minutes. Cut into small pieces or leave whole. Place in plastic bags and store in the freezer.

Champignons collected from the forest have a short shelf life of 3–4 days. If you bought the product in a store, you can use them for 10–11 days. Exceeding these periods leads to the fact that the product begins to turn black.

Video: How to properly store champignons

Contraindications

Despite the huge amount of useful substances in the composition (vitamins and minerals), champignons can cause severe harm to human health. They contain chitin, which the body is not able to digest, so it is forbidden for children under 12 years of age to consume mushrooms.

Considering that the amount of chitin is high (about 7% of dry matter), it can cause problems in the gastrointestinal tract. For this reason, try to eat mushroom fruiting bodies no more than 3 times a week.

Symptoms of champignon poisoning

The most common symptoms of champignon poisoning are as follows:

Acute pain in the abdominal area.
Cold sweat.
Diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
General fatigue of the body.
Headache.
Hallucinations and poor perception of what is happening.
Difficulty breathing.
Yellowness of the skin and whites of the eyes.
Changes in blood pressure.

The first signs of mushroom poisoning appear within a few hours. Depending on the body's immune system, this range is 2–20 hours. First of all, a person’s body temperature rises. If you immediately go to the hospital with such symptoms, you may be diagnosed with food poisoning.

Did you know? Champignons are considered a low-calorie product, so they are included in various diets. Despite their low calorie content (20 kcal per 100 g), they are able to saturate the body with useful vitamins and minerals.

If you do not immediately begin to eliminate the symptoms, then a toxic effect on the body appears, so specific signs often arise:

dry mouth;
vision problems (objects become blurred, vision may become dark);
difficulty swallowing;
speech disorder (voice changes).

First aid

First of all, you need to call a doctor. Further assistance to the victim consists of gastric lavage. He needs to be given a lot of clean water to drink (at least 4 liters). If a person develops strabismus, it is better to prepare a manganese solution (1.5 liters of water and 0.5 tsp of manganese). The patient should drink the medicine in small sips. It is necessary to drink the solution until food appears in the vomit.

If the victim does not have diarrhea, then it must be induced. To do this, you need to give him a weak saline solution with a small amount of laxative to drink. After this, let him drink activated carbon. The norm is 1.5 tablets per 1 kg of body.

Find out more about mushroom poisoning.

If a person suffers from hypotension (low blood pressure), then these first aid methods should not be used. Such methods are also prohibited in case of convulsions or loss of consciousness.

After diarrhea, vomiting and elevated body temperature, dehydration begins. In such cases, in the hospital the patient is given IVs with special solutions. Since it is difficult to find them at home, it is allowed to use ordinary strong tea, which the victim must drink until the doctor arrives.

So, now you know what the signs and causes of darkening of champignons are. It is important to store mushrooms correctly so that they not only do not lose their beneficial properties, but also do not disrupt the functioning of internal organs. Therefore, if they begin to darken, then they can no longer be consumed. At the slightest manifestation of poisoning, you should immediately consult a doctor so as not to provoke death. Spoiled food should always be thrown away.

In what form should champignons be eaten to avoid poisoning?

You can choose a good champignon if you follow all the rules for correctly choosing a worthy product. If the champignons you buy look fresh enough, they have a very pleasant mushroom smell, and they have a smooth structure, then you can be sure that you are holding a fresh product in your hands. Without fail, the mushroom should not be spoiled in the sense that it should not have any dents or dark spots. The taste quality during the preparation of mushrooms will be affected by the membrane located under the champignon cap. If the membrane is torn, the taste of the mushroom will be rich. If the membrane is intact, then during the cooking process the champignons will emit a soft aroma.

As for the direct consumption of these mushrooms, they can be eaten either cooked or raw. In this case, the main thing is that the champignons you buy must be fresh. But before preparing them, be sure to rinse them thoroughly with running water.

Despite the fact that champignons are not poisonous mushrooms, you can still get poisoned by them. Moreover, it is not always possible to make sure that mushrooms purchased at the market or in a store are really fresh. Therefore, if you are not sure of the freshness of the champignons, it is better not to eat them at all. This is due to the fact that if this mushroom sits for a certain amount of time, then over time a substance such as choline begins to be released from it. In fact, it is a harmful toxin for the human body. Therefore, you should not eat those mushrooms that simply lie unused for a long time.

Also, do not forget that champignons have a special property due to which they absorb without exception all substances, including those harmful to the body. Therefore, you should not collect these mushrooms near roads, enterprises and factories. It is better to go to the store and buy proven and fresh mushrooms there, since they are grown in exclusively environmental conditions. This is why they can be eaten in any form.

If you notice that the mushroom has darkened, this does not always mean that it is spoiled. This can be observed if the mushrooms lie in the open air for a long time. In this case, the hats may become almost black, but this only indicates their weathering. Such darkening can be considered safe for the human body as long as mucus does not appear on the surface of the cap. If this occurs, you should stop eating champignons. In opposite situations, eat champignons safely, without worrying about your own health.