Fresh mushrooms, used for food, consist of about 90% of water. The remaining consists of proteins (about 20/25%), fats (about 2/3%), carbohydrates (about 70%) and minerals, such as P, K, Ca, Fe, Mg, Cu, Zn, Si and others (0.8-1.2%).

A high content of potassium is a characteristic of mushrooms.

Fungi are also the only non-animal source of vitamin D.

Among the carbohydrates we find soluble compounds, such as glucose, xylose, rhamnose, sucrose and trehalose and "fibers", consisting of complex polysaccha-rides not easily absorbed, such as glycogen (a molecule used by fungi as energy reserve) and chitin (the main constituent of cell walls which decomposes with cooked). The metabolites of carbohydrate digestion present in fungi are also ex-cellent nutrients for intestinal probiotic bacteria.

The rate of essential amino acids is very high and this confers both a high biological value (about 80%) as well as a high digestibility (90%) to the proteins.

The percentage of fat mainly consists of linoleic and oleic acid, as well as other fat acids, sterols and phospholipids.

Mushrooms are also a source of vitamins. The main vitamins synthesized by fungi are C (7-8 mg / 100 g of fresh fungus), B2 (0.7-0.8 mg / 100 g), B6 (1 mg / 100g), PP (4.9 mg / 100 g), K (7 mg / 100 g) and D (3.8 mg / 100g).

In conclusion, due to the variability and characteristics of their compounds, fungi represent a great nutritional food.