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Oyster Mushroom · Pleurotus ostreatus
Photo: (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · via iNaturalist
Fungi
Oyster Mushroom
Pleurotus ostreatus
Oyster mushrooms grow in shelves off standing deadwood and are among the easiest of all mushrooms to farm, which is why they are cheap. Everything on this page was done on the mushroom as food.
Benefits
The harmful kind falls when they are a regular part of what you eat.
What It Is Known For
Eight studies, all on the mushroom as food, most pointing the same way — and the people who read them rate the evidence low. The direction is consistent and the quality is not.
True of the texture and beside the point here. What was measured was cholesterol, not protein.
The comparison gets made because oyster mushrooms contain a natural relative of one. Nobody has tested them against a statin, and this page does not.
Key Active Compounds
Fresh, cooked, or dried and powdered.
The soluble fiber in the flesh.
Traditionally Used
A generous handful torn and fried hard in a pan with oil, which is the only preparation this mushroom has ever needed.
How to Take It / Use It
Eat them often rather than occasionally. The amounts that were tested run from a few grams of powder to a plateful of fresh.
Cautions
Rare and real, and a first small amount is the sensible way in.
Growing them at home throws spores, and people who work with them can react to breathing them in.
Where It Comes From
Pleurotus ostreatus grows on dead and dying hardwood across most of the world and fruits after cold snaps. It is farmed on straw and on coffee grounds, which is part of why it is one of the cheapest mushrooms there is.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A oyster mushroom only makes our list if:
- The mushroom, in any form you would cook. Fresh, dried or powdered — all three were used, and there is no extract to prefer.
- Fruiting body, not mycelium on grain. Much of what is sold is mushroom threads grown through rice and packed with the rice still in it. A high polysaccharide number on that label may be measuring the rice.
- Nothing but mushroom. No blend, no added fiber, no capsule carrying four other things.
- Firm and dry to the touch. Oyster mushrooms go slimy quickly, and slimy is past it.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources1
- Effect of the intake of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) on cardiometabolic parameters — a systematic review of clinical trials. Nutrients, 2020. Systematic review, 8 trials, all whole mushroom