Yongping Shiitake Mushrooms

Yongping Shiitake Mushrooms

　　Shiitake mushrooms are one of Yongping’s prized edible fungi. The peak harvest season runs from April to June each year. They grow on over 100 types of broadleaf decaying wood such as oak, alder, beech, and Castanopsis, often in clusters.

　　Yongping shiitake mushrooms are known for their fresh color, plump bodies, and high quality. Highly favored by consumers for their rich nutrition and medicinal value, they are hailed as the “pinnacle of plants” and a “health food.” In the early stages of growth, the caps are flattened and hemispherical, gradually flattening out with a diameter of about 5–15 centimeters, appearing in either light red or dark brown. The flesh is white, thick, dense, and deliciously savory, offering high nutritional value.

　　Yongping shiitake mushrooms contain a wide variety of amino acids. Of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins, shiitake mushrooms contain 18, including seven essential amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize on its own. In addition, they are rich in glutamic acid, lysine, arginine, and over 30 types of enzymes, as well as protein, fat, thiamine, crude fiber, riboflavin, and niacin. Medicinal substances such as lentinacin, lentinene, lentinan, and mushroom ribonucleic acid can be extracted from shiitake mushrooms. Regular consumption not only strengthens the body and boosts disease resistance, prevents rickets, promotes healthy bone development in children, but also has special benefits such as boosting qi and strengthening muscles, treating wind-blood stasis, aiding digestion, and managing urinary incontinence. Folk remedies also use them to help bring out chickenpox and measles, detoxify food poisoning, treat headaches and dizziness, and prevent colds. Modern medical research indicates that shiitake mushrooms can also help prevent various mucosal and skin inflammations, as well as serious conditions such as hypertension, cirrhosis, rickets, scurvy, and cancer.

　　The annual social production of Yongping shiitake mushrooms is about 200,000 jin (100 metric tons), with products sold to major cities within and outside the province, as well as international markets including Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, and Southeast Asia. They are highly popular among customers.

　　Source: Dali Prefecture Tourism Development Management Committee