Deadly mushroom chemistry
Can you tell the difference between a tasty paddy straw mushroom and a toxic death cap? Emma Shiells talks to the experts about the potentially deadly chemistry hidden in those gills
Contrary to popular belief, not all poisonous toadstools are bright red with white spots or warn you by their lurid yellow and green colours. Often poisonous mushrooms look like the edible varieties you might buy in a shop and therein lies the danger for the inexperienced forager. The toxicity of the Amanita species is due to the presence of two groups of toxins known as amatoxins and phallotoxins, both multicyclic peptides.