Elevated levels of caesium hamper export of prized matsutake mushrooms to Japan

Alternative suggestion is to create recipes for Japanese tourists

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The matsutake mushroom (Tricholoma matsutake), a great delicacy of Japanese cuisine, was accepted among commercial edible mushroom species in Finland only this year, even though they have probably grown in Finnish forests for ages.
      According to researcher Eira-Maija Savonen from the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA), this mushroom species has more or less vanished from Japanese forests.
      Previously, a maximum amount of 12 million kilos of matsutake mushrooms were picked in Japanese forests, while today the annual yield is only 100,000 kilos. The price for the matsutake can consequently go up to hundreds of euros per kilo.
     
The matsutake boom began in Finland only this year after these mushrooms were found in Finnish forests in connection with a METLA study. The yield has been fairly good, even though the annual amounts of matsutake can differ considerably depending on the region.
      The matsutake mushroom grows on dry sandy pine-forest land. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots of pine, and forest felling is its worst enemy.
      METLA has started a research project, aiming at protecting the future of the matsutake even in clear felling areas. However, it is likely that it will take decades before any results from this project appear.
     
The export enthusiasm that sprang up over the matsutake in Finland this summer has been tempered by the fact that the mushrooms tested in Central Finland still exhibit elevated levels of the radioactive isotope caesium-137, even 20 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
      According to a Swedish study, thanks to the matsutake, there could be a two- to threefold increase in the accrued revenues from the timber production of a pine forest over a period of 100 years.
     
Japan has been buying matsutake mushrooms from Sweden for some ten years or more, while the Finnish export is limited by the fact that the toxicity of mushrooms in Central Finland still exceeds EU recommendations.
      According to the Finnish Food and Safety Authority (Evira), the careful pre-processing of mushrooms is necessary. The caesium levels in mushrooms can be lowered by up to 70-80% by soaking or boiling.
      METLA’s Eira-Maija Savonen is advising Finnish restaurants to create matsutake recipes and dishes for Japanese tourists.
      "Many Japanese visitors who cannot afford this high-priced delicacy at home would be happy to see his or her hopes come true in Finland", believes Savonen.
      So far, matsutake mushrooms have been found as far south as Kouvola, and they appear to be most plentiful in Kainuu and Finnish Lapland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Matsutake enthusiasm grows in north of Finland (28.8.2007)
  EVIRA: Evidence of Chernobyl nuclear accident still in Finnish fish and mushrooms (28.8.2007)
  Another Finnish mushroom boom: Mamma mia, what a year for the boletus mushrooms! (9.9.2003)

Links:
  Finnish Forest Research Institute, METLA
  Evira Press Release, 27.8.2007
  Matsutake (Wikipedia)

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