Auricularia cornea
Auricularia cornea, New Zealand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Auriculariales
Family: Auriculariaceae
Genus: Auricularia
Species:
A. cornea
Binomial name
Auricularia cornea
Ehrenb. (1820)
Synonyms
  • Exidia cornea (Ehrenb.) Fr. (1822)
  • Hirneola cornea (Ehrenb.) Fr. (1848)

Auricularia cornea (毛木耳, maomuer or cloud ear) is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China. The species was previously referred to Auricularia polytricha, but the latter species is probably a later synonym. Auricularia cornea is a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes and is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Taxonomy

Auricularia cornea was originally described from Hawaii (Oahu) by German naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1820. It was accepted as a distinct species by Bernard Lowy in his 1952 world monograph of Auricularia[1] and subsequently confirmed as distinct by molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences.[2]

A. polytricha, originally described from India (Eastern Ghats) by French mycologist Camille Montagne in 1834, is a probable later synonym of A. nigricans.[2] A. cornea was originally misidentified as A. polytricha.[3] The misidentification remains widespread, at least in Japan.[4]

Vernacular names

The species is called in Mandarin Chinese: 云耳; pinyin: yún'ěr, lit. "cloud ear", Chinese: 毛木耳; pinyin: máomù'ěr, lit. "hairy wood ear"), and in Japanese it is called ara-ge-ki-kurage (アラゲキクラゲ, lit. "rough-hair-tree-jellyfish"). It is one of several gelatinous fungi known as wood ear, wood fungus, ear fungus, or tree ear fungus, an allusion to their rubbery, ear-shaped fruitbodies.

In Hawaii, it is known as pepeiao which means "ear"[5] In Southeast Asia, it is known as bok née in local English (from the Hokkien 木耳 bo̍k-ní) and is used in the salad kerabu bok nee. It is called jamur kuping in Indonesia and cendawan telinga kera in Malaysia, meaning "the ear mushroom" and "monkey's ear mushroom" respectively, and in the Philippines it is called tenga ng daga, meaning "rat's ear", due to its appearance. In Chinese cooking, it is often referred to as "Black Treasure".[6] In New Zealand, it is known as hakeke by Māori.[7]

The white, unpigmented form of A. cornea is called yumuer in China and is now cultivated.[3][8] It is called 白きくらげ in Japan.

Description

Fruit bodies solitary or clustered, ear-shaped, laterally attached to wood, sometimes by a very short stalk, elastic, gelatinous, pale brown to reddish brown, rarely white, up to 90 mm wide and 2 mm thick; upper surface densely hairy; under surface smooth. Under a microscope, the hairs on the upper surface are thick-walled, 180–425 × 6–9 μm. Basidia cylindrical, hyaline, three-septate, 60–75 × 4–6 μm. Spores hyaline, allantoid (sausage-shaped), 14–16.5 × 4.5–6 μm.[3]

Habitat and distribution

Auricularia cornea grows on dead fallen or standing wood of broadleaf trees. The species is widely distributed in southern Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Pacific, and South America.[2][3]

Uses

Auricularia cornea is usually sold in dried form, and needs to be soaked in water before use. While almost tasteless, it is prized for its slippery but slightly crunchy texture, and its potential nutritional benefits.[9] The slight crunchiness persists despite most cooking processes.[10] Auricularia cornea is coarser than Auricularia heimuer, and is more likely to be used in soups rather than stir-fries.[11]

Māori traditionally cooked wood ear fungus by steaming in an earth oven and eating with sow thistle and potatoes.[12] From the 1870s to the 1950s, the fungus was collected and exported from New Zealand to China.[7]

According to Chinese medicine practitioners, eating dried and cooked wood ear can have health benefits for people with high blood pressure or cancer, and can prevent coronary heart disease and arteriosclerosis.[6]

This fungus is used in Cantonese desserts.

A cup of dry cloud ear fungus contains 19.6 grams of dietary fibre.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lowy, Bernard (1952). "The genus Auricularia". Mycologia. 44 (5): 656–92. doi:10.1080/00275514.1952.12024226. ISSN 0027-5514. JSTOR 4547639.
  2. 1 2 3 Looney, B. (2013). "Systematics of the genus Auricularia with an emphasis on species from the southeastern United States". North American Fungi. doi:10.2509/naf2013.008.006. ISSN 1937-786X.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wu F, Tohtirjap A, Fan L, Zhou L, Alvarenga RL, Gibertoni TB, Dai Y (2021). "Global diversity and updated phylogeny of Auricularia (Auriculariales, Basidiomycota)". Journal of Fungi. 7 (11): 933. doi:10.3390/jof7110933. PMC 8625027. PMID 34829220.
  4. ↑ 貴, 白水; 重樹, 稲葉; 秀爾, 牛島; 康仁, 奥田; 栄史, 長澤 (2018). "日本産 "Auricularia auricula-judae " および" A. polytricha " の分子系統解析と形態比較に基づく分類学的検討". 日本菌学会会報. 59 (1): jjom.H30–02. doi:10.18962/jjom.jjom.H30-02.
  5. ↑ Elizabeth Speith. "Auricularia polytricha (Auriculariaceae) - HEAR species info". Hear.org. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  6. 1 2 "Cuisine - Food - Cloud ear fungus". China Daily. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 Stephen Brightwell. "Feasting on Fungi". Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Bandara AR, Mortimer PE, VadthanaratS, Xingrong P, Karunarathna SC, Hyde KD, Kakumyan P, Xu J (2020). "First successful domestication of a white strain of Auricularia cornea from Thailand". Studies in Fungi. 5 (1): 420–434. doi:10.5943/sif/5/1/23. S2CID 234995383.
  9. ↑ Smith, Lana Billings. "The nutritional benefits of wood ear fungus". www.livestrong.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Why wood ear fungus should be a part of your daily meals". Organic Olivia. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  11. ↑ So, Yan-kit (16 January 2015). Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook. Penguin. p. 248. ISBN 9781465439758.
  12. ↑ Riley, Murdoch (1988). Maori Vegetable Cooking: Traditional and Modern Methods. New Zealand: Viking Sevenseas NZ Ltd. p. 6.
  13. ↑ "Fungi, Cloud ears, dried". National Nutrient Database. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
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