Authors have used various schemes to classify or define the different mushroom toxins. Unfortunately, as you can expect, it can be somewhat confusing since many times the toxin associated with each group varies. In this discussion we will use a combination of the Micromedex® POISINDEX® System as recommended by Rumack and Spoerke and the patterns of reaction as suggested by the North American Mycological Association (NAMA).* The toxin are discussed in order of their severity.
It is important to point out that in addition to the ingestion of mushrooms containing toxins, one may become moderately symptomatic after eating wild mushrooms that are considered edible for one of the following different reasons:
- A large quantity of mushrooms may be difficult to digest
- An immunological reaction to a mushroom-derived antigen
- Preparation method
- Season of the year collected.
Amanitin, Orellanine, Gyromitrin are the deadliest of the mushroom toxins and consequently are responsible for the majority of ingestion fatalities.
* The toxins discussed in this program are limited to those primarily associated with mushrooms in the United States.
