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Trying to ID a mysterious fruit
On Dec 10, 8:38 pm, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote: You are absolutely correct, do you know that mushrooms can be taken to the pharmacy for identification? Out of a whole basket, only one type of mine was edible! The others could be eaten, with the exception of one sounding like amoneta? but they would taste awful, so the pharmacist said. I will stick to buying them in the shop I think. Amanita. That genus contains several deadly fungi, including the death cap, fool's mushroom and destroying angel. Wikipedia claims that Amanita accounts for 95% of deaths by mushroom poisoning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita The problem with A. phalloides is that there are two toxins. The first acts within a few hours, and will lead to vomiting. But by then the second toxin will have been absorbed, and with that the effects don't show for around 24 hours. By that time it has already destroyed many liver cells. As if that wasn't bad enough, it is excreted in the bile, and is reabsorbed further down the gut. From there it goes back to the liver, and destroys more cells. And so on. In the end, only a liver transplant could ensure survival. Many years ago the only way to stop this process was to temporarily damage the liver cells in another way (believe it or not by using carbon tetrachloride - the original "Thawpit" dry cleaning fluid). In this way the amanita toxin could not do its deadly work on the liver cells, and was eventually excreted. Unfortunately, if the dose of carbon tetrachloride was too high, that also killed the liver cells. So there weren't too many survivors either way round. When an antitoxin becomes available it should be the treatment method of choice. I read somewhere quite recently that the spores are also toxic. So even if you didn't eat the Death Cap itself, if its spores had fallen on other edible mushrooms in your basket, some degree of poisoning could result (though I doubt it would be serious, let alone fatal). -- Jeff (cut "thetape" to reply) As I said earlier 'bloomin 'eck! I am off to Auchan G |
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