The peoples of antiquity called agaricus the "mushroom of longevity". It was used to cleanse the blood and increase overall body tone.
The agaricus mushroom can live for 50 years and longer. This makes it one of the longest-living perennial mushrooms known to science.
Natural immunoprotector
Agaricus is a valuable medicinal and simultaneously parasitic mushroom. It attaches to old deciduous and coniferous trees, provoking brown cubic heart-shaped rot on them.
The earliest written reference to any mushrooms being used for health purposes dates back to 65 BC: agaricus extract was mentioned by the Greek physician Dioscorides as an anti-tuberculosis treatment.
Other oral and written evidence indicates that agaricus extract was actively used in Europe during the Middle Ages to maintain health. Native Americans also knew about the beneficial properties of this mushroom. Oral traditions from some tribes say that it was used as a cure for diseases brought by Europeans, including smallpox.
Distribution area
The habitat of this mushroom is mainly Eurasia and North America. In Ukraine, back in the first half of the 20th century, agaricus was prevalent on the territory of the Carpathian Mountains. Also, agaricus is often found in the northeastern regions of the European part of Russia, in Western and more often Eastern Siberia, in Russia's Far East.
savior for the skin
Mushrooms differ from higher plants in a more specific biochemical composition, and agaricus is no exception. The agaricus' fruiting body contains 16% agaric (agaricin), citric, ricinoleic, fumaric, eburicolic and malic acids, glucosamine, mannitol, phytosterol, lanophile polysaccharide, fatty oil, resins and mineral salts.
Quite often, agaricus is also used as a natural "antiperspirant": the main active ingredient of this mushroom is agaricin, which is contained in the fruiting bodies. Agaricus also acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic agent.