Q. Define Mushroom Poisoning?
Mushroom poisoning is caused by the consumption of raw or cooked fruiting bodies (mushrooms, toadstools) of a number of species of higher fungl. Figure 6.5 shows a varikty of mushrooms, of which some could be poisonous as well. The term toadstool (from the German word Todesstuhl, meaning death's stool) is commonly given to poisonous mushrooms, but for the individuals who are not experts in mushroom identification, there are generally no easily recognizable differences between poisonous and non poisonous species. The toxins involved in mushroom poisoning are produced naturally by the fungi themselves, and each individual specimen of a toxic species should be considered equally poisonous.