The Chinese have been eating lingzhi, or reishi, mushrooms as medicine for two millennia. However, the most commonly eaten type, known in Chinese as chizhi or red lingzhi, has for a long time mistakenly been considered by people around the world to be the same species as the European glossy ganoderma, whose Latin name is Ganoderma lucidum. After researchers collected some wild red lingzhi from an oak forest near Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province, collaborating researchers in Taiwan and China discovered that red lingzhi was actually a new fungus species that had never been recorded. Accordingly, they have officially named it Ganoderma lingzhi. Their findings have been published in Fungal Diversity, the top international journal of mycology.
Wu Sheng-hua, head of the research project and a fungus expert with the National Museum of Natural Science, says that lingzhi mushrooms belong to the ganoderma genus of the polypore family. Wu says that the annual net output value of lingzhi mushrooms is estimated to be as high as NT$100 billion (US$ 3.34 billion) globally. There are currently more than 100 known species of lingzhi mushrooms, with each species containing somewhat different substances with different effects, so more research needs to be done on them, he says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者黃美珠
靈芝在華人用於養生已兩千年歷史,然而,最常食用的「赤芝」,長期被國際誤認為和歐洲的「亮蓋靈芝」同種,且都以「ganoderma lucidum」做為拉丁學名。經過學者前往湖北武漢附近的櫟樹林採集野生赤芝,兩岸合作研究發現「赤芝」竟然是尚未被記錄的新種真菌,因此正式定名為 「ganoderma lingzhi(靈芝的漢語發音)」,研究成果將刊登在國際真菌學術期刊排名第一的《Fungal Diversity》。
負責這項研究的國立自然科學博物館研究員吳聲華說,靈芝為多孔菌的靈芝科,估計每年全球產值高達新台幣一千億元,已知有一百多種不同的靈芝,不同種類靈芝的成份和功效都不盡相同,有待進一步分析。
(自由時報記者胡清暉)
Photo: George Tsorng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者叢昌瑾
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
The practice of freezing embryos as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was thrown into chaos in Alabama this year, when the state supreme court ruled that such embryos should be considered children, exposing clinics to wrongful death claims in the event they are destroyed in the thawing process. In 2021, more than 80 percent of US IVF procedures involved the transfer of frozen embryos, according to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services. HOW IS EMBRYO FREEZING USED IN IVF? IVF uses high doses of hormones to stimulate ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. Once
A situation puzzle is a game in which one person describes a scenario and asks the players to explain it. The situation is deliberately lacking in details, but the players may acquire more information by asking questions — however, these can only be answered with “yes” or “no.” A player wins by describing the approximate events that led up to the situation. To do so, they must use a blend of logical and lateral thinking. A famous example of this is sometimes known as “Turtle Soup.” Here’s the riddle: “A man in a restaurant orders turtle soup, tastes it