Mushrooms are more than just a tasty addition to our foods; they make two other important contributions. They help the environment by decomposing dead wood and returning important nutrients to the soil, and edible mushrooms are a good source of essential nutrition. According to the American Mushroom Institute, the white button accounts for 90 percent of the mushrooms consumed in the United States.
Definition
Mushrooms are not plants; they're fungi that grow in dark damp places, absorbing nutrients from decaying matter to support their growth. The mushrooms we eat are actually the "fruit" of a supporting structure called mycelium, which makes picking a mushroom similar to picking an apple from a tree.
The nutrition data quoted throughout this article is from the USDA, based on a serving size of 84 grams (about one cup of sliced mushrooms) and compares nutrition information for white, crimini, portabella, enoki, oyster, maitake and shiitake mushrooms.
Basic Nutrition
All mushrooms are quite low in calories, ranging from 18 to 47 calories per serving. The amount of fat is so small it is insignificant. The total carbohydrates are 1 to 2 percent of the recommended daily value (DV). All of the mushrooms provide fiber but crimini have the lowest amount (2 percent DV), and the highest amounts are in oyster (8 percent DV), enoki and maitakes (9 percent DV). According to calculations from NutritionData.com, white mushrooms have a protein score of 56, with enoki and oysters scoring 75 to 78. A score of 100 indicates the item is a complete protein.
Vitamins
Mushrooms are a good source of the B vitamins riboflavin (12 to 24 percent DV), niacin (15 to 30 percent DV) and pantothenic acid (10 to 18 percent DV). Vitamin D values range from 2 to 8 percent, except for maitake mushrooms, which contain a whopping 248 percent of the daily value. White mushrooms provide vitamin C (2 percent DV), oyster mushrooms have vitamin A (1 percent DV) and portabellas have vitamin B12 (1 percent DV). Other vitamins provided by all mushrooms in smaller amounts include thiamin, vitamin B6 and folate (2 to 7 percent DV).
Minerals
Mushrooms provide 10 to 21 percent DV of copper except for shiitakes, which contain 38 percent. They're a good source of potassium and phosphorus with daily values ranging from 5 to 12 percent. You'll also receive between 2 to 8 percent of the DV of iron, magnesium and zinc.
Essential Nutrients
Oyster mushrooms provide 41.9 milligrams of choline but other mushrooms contain about 12 to 18 milligrams of this important nutrient that plays a key role in cell structure, transmission of nerve impulses and metabolism of fats. The recommended daily intake of the essential element selenium is 55 micrograms. Two mushrooms are great sources: White mushrooms provide 19.6 micrograms and shiitakes have 36 micrograms of selenium.
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