Hedgehog Mushroom: (Hydnum Repandum Hydnum Umbilicatum)

About - The Hedgehog mushroom, and its edible cousins, all share a feature from which they get their names. The underside of the cap does not have gills or pores, rather it has toothy spines which stick downward. It is a distinctive mushroom, and one of the more popular ones for foragers since it is easily identified.

It looks rather like a Chanterelle from the top, but the bottom is different enough to distinguish. It is a meaty mushroom, and you really can't confuse it with other types because of the spiky tooth-like spore surface under the cap.

Culinary Use – The Hedgehog has a type of sugar in it, which gives it a sweet flavour. It is used in dishes where this characteristic enhances the flavour of the dish.

According to some sources, they do not dry well, and one of the reasons given is that the teeth fall off. Yeah, they do. But I have dried Hedgehog mushrooms, and they are very usable. They reconstitute slowly, and retain a chewy texture, but are otherwise just fine. They also freeze well.

Tastes Like - Somewhat of a caramelized flavour. Dried Hedgehogs have an intensification of that characteristic, and smell like barely burnt sugar, and have a little bit of a dark caramel flavour. It is not so strong that it is unpleasant.

Health benefits

Hedgehog Mushroom Hericium Erinaceus (also known as Hedgehog Mushroom, Lion’s Mane Mushroom, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, Satyr’s Beard, pom pom mushroom, Bearded Tooth Fungus, yamabushitake) is a medicinal mushroom is also called a “natural food for the neurons”, because of capacity for renewal of the nervous system. The famous Japanese expert on mushrooms Professor Kawagishi has declared this mushroom as a “mushroom of 21st CENTURY.”

Hericium erinaceus grows naturally in North America, China and Japan. In Europe it is rare to find. Hedgehog mushroom that can be found in Europe is grown in the laboratory under strictly controlled conditions that correspond to the natural habitat.

What are the active ingredients found in this fungus that are able to restore and regenerate the nervous system?

Department of Neurobiology and Brain Research University of California, LA and Chinese research centre for natural healing ingredients, “College of Science University Ling Yang,” from hericium erinaceus managed to extract two molecules of the active ingredient of Cyathane derivatives, which stimulate the production of nerve growth factor (NGF).

mushrooms, Hedgehog Mushroom Nerve growth factor plays an important role in the differentiation and survival of several populations of nerve cells in the central and peripheral nervous system. Molecules that are found in the hericium erinaceus are NGF activators. They go through blood brain barrier and exert a strong effect in the brain.

Otherwise, this fungus, unlike other medicinal mushroom, has a low molecular weight and the body absorbs it well. It has been shown that in addition to renewing nerve cells, they are very good in restoring of nerve sheath, and improvement of the conductivity signal, which is essential in the treatment of Multiple sclerosis (MS). In some cases its health benefits are comparable to halotherapy and maca root powder benefits.

The lack of NGF is found in Alzheimer’s disease and forgetting (dementia). The world’s leading researcher Paul Stamets proposes Hericium is treating of Alzheimer, dementia, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy.

The main medicinal ingredients found in Hericium Erinaceus are:

cyathane derivatives (diterpenoidi)

beta-D-glucan

ergosterol (provitamin D2)

erinacines Q and R

xilan

glicoxilan

mano glicoxilan

galactoxilo glucan

heterobeta glucan (from 5 types of polysaccharides)

Hericium Erinaceus (Hedgehog Mushroom)

It helps in treating of:

Nerve disorders – dementia, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, neuronal degeneration, depression, schizophrenia, autism, Pareto syndrome, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder (avoidant personality disorder test)

Restoration of the mucous membrane – to stomach ulcers, ulcers in the intestine (Crohn’s), ulcers in the duodenum, gastritis, atrophic gastritis (the most severe form)

Anorexia and Bulimia – obesity

In China is developed the treatment of stomach cancer and esophagus

Repairs the immune system, regulate cholesterol, sugar, inflammation, swelling

Indeed we have a product that will help with serious and incurable diseases and to change the idea that the nerve cells have renewable energy

Growing Info - A Mycorrhizal mushroom, Hedgehogs require specific types and numbers of trees to grow. They may be grown in woodlots and landscaping where the right environment exists.