While some mushrooms are hard to distinguish from one another, cultivated enoki mushrooms set themselves apart. More stem than cap, at first glance enokis look more like bean sprouts than fungi. An excellent source of fiber, minerals and B-vitamins, enokis are best served raw or lightly cooked. Chop the exotic mushrooms, also known as enokitake, over salads and soups, or add them to stir-fries, sandwiches or the crudités platter.
Basic Information
Always buy enoki mushrooms from a reputable dealer to ensure you buy non-poisonous mushrooms. Wild-harvested enoki mushrooms do not look like cultivated enokis – but they do bear a passing resemblance to some poisonous mushrooms. According to USDA figures, a 1-cup serving of sliced enoki mushrooms contains about 30 calories, 5 grams carbohydrates and 2 grams protein. The mushrooms have little or no saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium.
Fiber
Enokis provide almost 2 grams of dietary fiber in every cup of sliced mushrooms. That fiber content represents about 7 percent of the recommended daily value, or DV, for fiber. According to MayoClinic.com, fiber not only promotes healthy digestion and helps you feel full more quickly, but also may lower your risk of heart disease and certain cancers, including colon cancer. Enokis have about twice as much dietary fiber as white button mushrooms provide.
Vitamins
Each cup of sliced enoki mushrooms delivers almost 20 percent of the DV for niacin. Like all B-complex vitamins, niacin helps you turn the starchy foods you eat into fuel. Getting enough niacin is also linked to lowering blood pressure. Enokis also provide 6 percent to 8 percent of the DVs for several other B vitamins, including folate, thiamin, riboflavin and B-5.
Minerals
Enoki mushrooms are good sources of several minerals, including iron. Enokis contribute higher amounts of most minerals than white button mushrooms. Each cup of sliced, raw enoki mushrooms provides 7 percent of the potassium and phosphorus you need each day, as well as 4 percent of the DV for iron. Enokis are also good sources of magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.
Medicinal Properties
According to mushroom expert Paul Stamets, author of "Mycelium Running," enoki mushrooms contain medicinal compounds known as polysaccharides. The type specific to enoki mushrooms is called FVP, or Flammulina velutipes polysaccharides. These FVPs show promise as anti-tumor foods, according to Stamets. He notes that people in Japan who regularly consume enoki mushrooms had lower incidents of cancer in isolated studies conducted during the 1980s through 2001. Ask your health-care practitioner about the latest research on enoki mushrooms before using them specifically for their medicinal properties.
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