Enokitake

For other things named "Enoki", see Enoki (disambiguation).

Flammulina
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Cultivated Flammulina velutipes
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Wild Enokitake, Flammulina velutipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Physalacriaceae
Genus:	Flammulina
Species:	F. velutipes
Binomial name
Flammulina velutipes (Curtis) Singer (1951)

Enokitake (榎茸, エノキタケ, Japanese pronunciation: [enokitake], /ᵻˌnoʊkiˈtɑːkiː/), also Enokidake (榎茸, エノキダケ, Japanese pronunciation: [enokidake], /ᵻˌnoʊkiˈdɑːkiː/) or Enoki (榎, エノキ, Japanese pronunciation: [enoki], /ᵻˈnoʊki/), is a long, thin white mushroom used in East Asian cuisine (such as that of China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea). These mushrooms are cultivars of Flammulina velutipes, also known by the name golden needle mushroom or lily mushroom. Wild forms differing in color, texture, and sliminess are called names including seafood mushrooms, winter mushrooms or winter fungus, velvet foot, velvet stem or velvet shank.

This mushroom is available fresh or canned, with experts recommending fresh enoki specimens with firm, white, shiny caps, rather than those with slimy or brownish stalks that are best avoided. It is traditionally used for soups, but can also be used for salads and other dishes. The mushroom has a crisp texture and can be refrigerated for approximately one week.

Features

The mushroom naturally grows on the stumps of the Chinese Hackberry tree ("enoki" in Japanese), but also on other trees, such as mulberry and persimmon trees. There is a significant difference in appearance between the wild and cultivated types of the mushroom. Cultivated mushrooms have not been exposed to light, resulting in a white color, whereas wild mushrooms usually display a dark brown color. Cultivated mushrooms are grown in a carbon dioxide (CO₂)-rich environment to nurture the development of long thin stems, whereas wild mushrooms produce a much shorter and thicker stem.

In the UK, the wild variety of the mushroom may be found from September through to March, hence the name Winter Fungus.

Names

Flammulina velutipes
Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is convex
	hymenium is adnexed
	stipe is bare
	spore print is white
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: choice

The names enokitake (榎茸、エノキタケ), enokidake (榎茸、エノキダケ) and enoki (榎、エノキ), are derived from the Japanese language. In Chinese, the mushroom is called "jīnzhēngū" 金針菇 or "jīngū" 金菇. In Korean, it is called "paengi beoseot" (팽이버섯), and "kim châm" or "trâm vàng" are the terms used in Vietnamese.

Health properties

File:FIP-fve protein.png

FIP-fve [1]

Enokitake mushrooms contain antioxidants, like ergothioneine. Animal testing has indicated possible applications in the development of vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.

Research at the National University of Singapore, first published in 2005, stated that the stalk of the golden needle mushroom contains a large quantity of a protein, named "Five"/"FIP-fve" by the researchers, that helps in the regulation of the immune system. The mushroom also contains flammutoxin, a cytolytic and cardiotoxic protein that has proven to be non-toxic when absorbed orally.

Gallery

• Agaricus velutipes — Flora Batava — Volume v10.jpg

  in Jan Kops - in Flora Batava : of afbeelding en beschrijving van Nederlandsche gewassen, Volume 10

• 2008-12-21-niederfinow-04.jpg

  Enokitake in Niederfinow

• Flammulina velutipes20041024.JPG
• Flammulina velutipes on Fagus sylvatica (1).JPG
• Flammulina velutipes on Fagus sylvatica (2).JPG

See also

• Edible mushrooms
• Japanese cuisine
• Medicinal mushrooms

External links

• Enokitake in Index Fungorum