Matsutake
Matsutake, the prized pine-forest mushroom of Japanese cooking: why it cannot be farmed, how wild harvest has fallen, the yellow knight safety lesson, and what lab studies do and do not show.
Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.
Safety first. Supplements can cause side effects and interact with medicines. Read mushroom safety and interactions before you use any mushroom product.
Documented analytical data
Each group below is one study's measurement of the stated specimen or preparation. It is not a typical value for the species or product, varies between specimens, and says nothing about effects or safety. 10 values from 3 sources.
Guthrie C, Hasic S, Gordon H. Interspecies distribution and processing stability of ergothioneine and histidine in co... (1 value)
Source: Guthrie C, Hasic S, Gordon H. Interspecies distribution and processing stability of ergothioneine and histidine in commercially available mushrooms. MicroPubl Biol 2026. https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.002257. Ergothioneine in the same sample was below the limit of quantitation, so no n... Laboratory: Authors' laboratory. Method: LC-MS/MS. Date: not stated.
| Specimen or preparation | Analyte | Value | What it is | Sample size and scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tricholoma matsutake (pine/matsutake), dried, commercial | Histidine | 0.035 mg per g (dry, dried commercial sample) | mean (reported) | 3 (mean +/- 0.002 SE). measured samples |
Liang S et al. A Novel Polysaccharide Purified from Tricholoma matsutake. Foods 2025;14(6):1031. https://doi.org/10.3... (1 value)
Source: Liang S et al. A Novel Polysaccharide Purified from Tricholoma matsutake. Foods 2025;14(6):1031. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14061031 (open access). Yield is from the authors' earlier optimized extraction. Laboratory: Authors' laboratory. Method: hot-water extraction, earlier optimized method of the authors. Date: not stated.
| Specimen or preparation | Analyte | Value | What it is | Sample size and scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dried T. matsutake slices bought in Yimen County, Yunnan | Crude polysaccharide extract yield | 8.67 percent (extract yield, dried slices (basis as stated by authors)) | single value (reported) | not stated. measured samples |
Wang C et al. Metals Transfer in Mushroom Tricholoma matsutake from Regional High Geochemical Background Areas. J Fun... (8 values)
Source: Wang C et al. Metals Transfer in Mushroom Tricholoma matsutake from Regional High Geochemical Background Areas. J Fungi 2024;10(9):608. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10090608 (open access). Iron reported as 0.24-18.8 g per kg, converted by us to mg per kg. Laboratory: Authors' laboratory (China). Method: X-ray fluorescence with reference materials. Date: not stated.
| Specimen or preparation | Analyte | Value | What it is | Sample size and scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Copper | 24.9 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | minimum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Copper | 217 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | maximum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Iron | 240 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | minimum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Iron | 18800 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | maximum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Manganese | 21.1 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | minimum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Manganese | 487 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | maximum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Zinc | 38.7 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | minimum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
| Fruiting bodies (caps and stipes), Diqing, Yunnan, China | Zinc | 329 mg per kg (as reported (cap and stipe combined range; fresh/dry basis not confirmed; authors assume dry-weight serving)) | maximum (reported) | 54 paired mushroom and soil samples. measured samples |
What is Matsutake good for?
What the body uses it for, and how strong the evidence is. A normal job in the body is not proof that extra supplements add benefit; each card says which.
As a food (cooking and flavour)
Preliminary or mixedMatsutake is a prized wild pine-forest mushroom eaten in Japan and elsewhere in East Asia. We found no official nutrient table for it, so its food value is not documented here.
Supplements: Not a supplement mushroom; no supplement trials found.
Immune-active polysaccharides (cell studies)
Lab or animal research onlyA polysaccharide purified from dried matsutake activated mouse macrophage cells in a dish. No animal or human result was read.
Supplements: Lab and cell findings only; nothing shows a benefit from eating or supplementing matsutake.
Antioxidant and anticancer findings (cell lines)
Lab or animal research onlyA 2023 review says most anticancer work only measured dose and inhibition in cancer cell lines, with mechanisms still unclear.
Supplements: Cell-line only; no human trial found.
Ergothioneine content
Not enough evidenceIn one LC-MS/MS comparison a dried matsutake sample had ergothioneine below the quantitation limit (n=3), unlike porcini, oyster and shiitake in the same table.
Supplements: No supplement evidence; one small commercial-sample dataset only.
Medicines, pregnancy, allergy
Not enough evidenceWe found no source on medicine interactions, pregnancy, breastfeeding or allergy for matsutake.
Supplements: No data found.
Connected topics
Open a group to see how each topic connects and how strong the evidence is.
Root causes (1)
- Heavy Metal ExposureDocumented risk
Wild matsutake takes up metals from soil; iron and copper in fruiting bodies from high-metal areas exceeded a risk index in one Chinese study. Origin matters.
Documented risks and interactions (5)
- Wild supply, no cultivation, conservation. Matsutake lives in partnership with living pine roots and has not been made to fruit under controlled conditions, so it still depends on wild harvest. Japanese production has fallen from about 12,000 tonnes in 1941 to a few dozen tonnes in recent years.
- Yellow knight (Tricholoma equestre) safety lesson. A close relative in the same genus, once widely eaten, was linked in 2001 to 12 cases of severe muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), three fatal, after repeated meals. Later survey and volunteer work found no such effect, and countries still disagree on whether it is safe. It is not matsutake, but it shows why a species in a genus is not automatically safe.
- Wild look-alikes and identification. Wild mushrooms must not be identified from text or an app. We found no matsutake-specific look-alike source, so none is listed; in Switzerland, one survey of yellow knight harvests found inedible or poisonous species mixed in.
- Metals in fruiting bodies and soil. In 54 matsutake from Yunnan high-metal areas, iron, manganese, zinc and copper were measured and iron and cap copper often exceeded the authors' risk index. A second paper states matsutake can absorb lead, cadmium and mercury from soil but gives no measured cadmium or mercury values.
- Preservatives in traded matsutake. A Chinese study notes that traders may add excess preservative (potassium sorbate) during transport and developed a test for it; the national limit it quotes is 0.5 g per kg.
The short version. Matsutake is a wild mushroom eaten as a luxury food, above all in Japan. It lives in partnership with living pine roots, has not been made to fruit under controlled conditions, and so still depends on wild harvest. [3][4] Health claims about it come almost entirely from cell-dish studies; we found no human trial. [1][9] This page is mostly about it as a food, and about two safety points: wild identification, and the lesson of a close relative in the same genus.
Two separate questions. Eating matsutake as a food is one question (cooking, sourcing, safety). Taking a powder or extract as a supplement is another, and for matsutake we found no supplement trial at all.
What it is
Tricholoma matsutake is a mycorrhizal fungus: it forms a two-way partnership with tree roots, mainly Pinus densiflora in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and builds a dense underground mat called the shiro. [4] Pines are the main hosts, though it also associates with oaks in China and with fir and hemlock in subalpine Japan. [3] Related species in the group, such as T. murrillianum (Pacific matsutake), are described as poorly studied for cultivation. [3] Common names include pine mushroom; we use "matsutake" for the group and say which species where a study does.Wild mushrooms cannot be safely identified from a description, and this page gives no identification help. Do not identify wild fungi from text or an app. See mushroom poisoning and urgent help; in the US, Poison Help is 1-800-222-1222.
As a food
- Role as food. Matsutake is prized for its smell and taste in Japanese cooking. [3] USDA FoodData Central has no entry for it, and we found no open table of its nutrients, so we do not give nutrition numbers. One paper calls it a popular, expensive, rare wild fungus with polysaccharides, protein, minerals, vitamins and little fat, without amounts. [9]
- Ergothioneine. In one commercial dataset, dried matsutake had ergothioneine below the quantitation limit (3 samples), while porcini, oyster and shiitake in the same table held measurable amounts. [8] That is one small dataset, not a general rule. See ergothioneine and other mushroom compounds.
- Cooking. We found no matsutake-specific cooking or storage source. General advice: cooking edible mushrooms safely.
Why it cannot be farmed, and what has happened to wild harvest
- No controlled fruiting yet. Matsutake seedlings with the fungus on their roots can be made in the lab, but the fungus has not yet fruited under controlled conditions. [3] Growth is slow, and transplanted seedlings often lose their root tips. [3] A related species, T. bakamatsutake, is reported to have fruited on nutrient medium without a host. [3]
- Wild harvest has fallen. One Japanese paper reports domestic production dropping from about 12,000 tonnes in 1941 to a few dozen tonnes in recent years, blaming the end of wood-fuel gathering (which left forest floors too rich), pine wilt disease from the 1970s, and build-up of humus and competing plants. [2] Another paper also says abundance has dropped sharply over the past century. [4]
- What helped, in one forest. In a 41-year study in Nagano Prefecture, a pine plot where trees were thinned, other trees cleared and litter removed gave 1,561 kg of fresh mushrooms per hectare against 607 kg in an unmanaged plot, and the benefit appeared after about 5 to 10 years. [2] It was one site with one plot of each kind, so it shows a possibility, not a rule. [2]
- Prices and imports. Japan imports matsutake worth about US$80 to 100 million a year, about as much as domestic production. [3]
- Status lists. We could not confirm any Red List status for matsutake, so we make no claim. See also wild harvest, conservation and sustainability of medicinal fungi.
What research shows
| Use | What the source found | Strength of evidence | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immune activity | A purified polysaccharide activated mouse macrophage cells in a dish. [9] | Laboratory only | Extract from dried slices |
| Antioxidant and anticancer effects | A 2023 review says most anticancer work measured dose and inhibition in cancer cell lines, with mechanisms still unclear. We read the abstract only. [1] | Laboratory only | Various extracts |
| Any health outcome in people | No human trial found. | Proper evidence not found |
Lab data and chemistry
A. What the laboratory literature reports in this mushroom. The Wikidata/LOTUS database lists 58 compounds for Tricholoma matsutake (taxon Q509308). [10] The file has no paper attached to each statement and we did not open the compound pages, so these are database entries, not checked findings. A presence entry means "reported in at least one study of this species", not "present in every product".| Compound or group | Class | Where in the mushroom / form | Identity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-1-en-3-ol | Volatile alcohol (aroma) | Part not given | ChEBI:34118; Wikidata Q161667 | [10] |
| 1-Octen-3-one | Volatile ketone (aroma) | Part not given | ChEBI:88900; Wikidata Q5074300 | [10] |
| (2E)-2-Octenal and oct-2-enal | Volatile aldehydes | Part not given | ChEBI:61748, 61725; Wikidata Q2448755, Q27131344 | [10] |
| Ethyl cinnamate | Aromatic ester (aroma) | Part not given | ChEBI:4895; Wikidata Q204182 | [10] |
| Cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid | Aromatic compounds | Part not given | ChEBI:16731, 35697; Wikidata Q204036, Q164785 | [10] |
| Alpha-pinene and limonene | Terpenes | Part not given | ChEBI:36740, 15384; Wikidata Q27104380, Q278809 | [10] |
| Matsutakone | Named after the mushroom | Part not given | ChEBI:218831; Wikidata Q104935900 | [10] |
| Matsutoic acid | Named after the mushroom | Part not given | ChEBI:218837; Wikidata Q105018958 | [10] |
| Matsudipeptide A and B | Small peptides | Part not given | ChEBI:216521, 216526; Wikidata Q110172130, Q110172131 | [10] |
| Ergosterol endoperoxide | Sterol derivative | Part not given | ChEBI:65858; Wikidata Q5385831 | [10] |
| Cerevisterol | Sterol | Part not given | ChEBI:68083; Wikidata Q15410887 | [10] |
| Polysaccharide TMP-2a | Branched glucose-rich polysaccharide (mainly glucose, with galactose, mannose, fucose; molecular weight 27,749 Da) | Dried slices | no single ID | [9] |
B. Measured values. USDA FoodData Central has no entry for this mushroom (checked in the file we use), so values come from papers.
| Measure | Value | Basis | Sample | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 240 to 18,800 mg per kg (range) | as reported; caps and stems; fresh or dry not confirmed | 54 wild samples, Diqing, Yunnan; X-ray fluorescence | [6] |
| Manganese | 21.1 to 487 mg per kg (range) | same | same | [6] |
| Zinc | 38.7 to 329 mg per kg (range) | same | same | [6] |
| Copper | 24.9 to 217 mg per kg (range) | same | same | [6] |
| Histidine | 0.035 mg per g | dry, commercial dried sample | 3 samples, LC-MS/MS | [8] |
| Ergothioneine | below the limit of quantitation (no number) | dry, commercial dried sample | 3 samples, LC-MS/MS | [8] |
| Crude polysaccharide extract yield | 8.67% | dried slices, hot-water method | Yimen County, Yunnan; from the authors' earlier optimisation | [9] |
| Cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic, beta-glucan, vitamin D2, protein, fibre | no open measured value found |
C. What the numbers do and do not mean.
- A compound listed in a database or measured in a mushroom does not show a health effect. The only immune finding here is from cells in a dish. [9]
- Wild matsutake takes up what is in its soil, so metal levels depend on where it grew; the Yunnan samples came from areas chosen for high natural metal levels and do not describe all matsutake. [6]
- Ranges vary with location, harvest, drying and extraction; one polysaccharide paper gave two different sugar compositions in its abstract and results, so treat its figures with care. [9]
- A cultured-mycelium product is a different material from the wild fruiting body, and the lab studies on mycelium should not be assumed to describe the mushroom. See fruiting body vs mycelium.
- A matsutake served in a meal is a very small amount of any compound compared with a concentrated extract, and no study compares the two.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Can matsutake be farmed?
Not so far. The fungus has not fruited under controlled conditions, so it is harvested wild. [3][4]
Why is it so expensive?
Our sources say it is rare, wild and highly valued in cooking, and that Japanese production has fallen sharply. We found no price data to quote. [2][3]
Is matsutake a health supplement?
We found no human trial. Lab studies on cells exist. [1][9]
Is it related to the yellow knight mushroom?
Both are in the genus Tricholoma. The yellow knight was linked to muscle breakdown and deaths in 2001, though later work found no effect in volunteers. Matsutake has not been linked to this. [5]
Does it contain heavy metals?
Wild mushrooms take up metals from soil; iron and copper were high in samples from metal-rich areas in China. Cadmium and mercury were not measured in the papers we read. [6][7]
More details: evidence, limits and cautions
The details behind this page: cautions, limits of the evidence and where sources disagree. Open any note to read it.
Safety and limits of the evidence
- A close relative: the yellow knight. Tricholoma equestre was long eaten. In 2001 a French report linked it to 12 people with severe muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), three of whom died, after repeated meals. [5] Later, a survey of 1,545 Polish foragers found mild stomach upset in 0.78% and no muscle symptoms, and ten volunteers who ate one 300 g fried meal had no blood-test changes over 7 days. [5] The authors argue past cases may reflect misidentification, individual susceptibility or heavy repeated eating. [5] France, Spain and Italy have declared it poisonous, while Poland treats it as edible. [5] This is not a finding about matsutake. The lesson is that a mushroom's genus does not tell you it is safe, and experts still disagree about this one.
- Look-alikes. Matsutake has a dangerous look-alike. In a 1998 report of four people in the Pacific Northwest who went into acute kidney failure, all believed they were eating matsutake (the North American pine mushroom, Tricholoma magnivelare); the mushrooms were described as resembling Amanita smithiana, and all four needed dialysis for weeks before their kidneys returned to baseline.[11] A 2013 report describes a 63-year-old man who ate a wild mushroom soup, stopped passing urine, needed dialysis and recovered; a lab test found the A. smithiana toxin in the leftover soup, and the authors say this mushroom is easily mistaken for the pine mushroom.[12] We read only the abstracts of both papers. See Amanita smithiana. Symptoms can start with an upset stomach and kidney failure can follow days later. A Swiss figure quoted in [5] found inedible or poisonous species mixed into yellow knight harvests, which shows how wild harvests get mixed. Never rely on a photo or description.
- Metals. In 54 matsutake from high-metal areas of Yunnan, China, iron in the caps and stems ranged very widely, and the authors judged iron and cap copper above their risk index in many samples; manganese and zinc were not. [6] A second paper states that matsutake can absorb lead, cadmium and mercury from soil, but gives no measured cadmium or mercury values. [7] Origin matters. See heavy metals and contamination.
- Preservatives. One Chinese study notes traders may add excess potassium sorbate to keep traded matsutake fresh, and quotes a national limit of 0.5 g per kg. [7]
- Medicines, pregnancy, breastfeeding, allergy. We found no source for any of these in matsutake. Not described in the sources we read is not the same as safe; ask a pharmacist, and see medicine interactions.
References
- Zhou Y, El-Seedi HR, Xu B. Insights into health promoting effects and myochemical profiles of pine mushroom Tricholoma matsutake. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2023. Read 2026-10-23 (abstract only).
- Furukawa H et al. Long-term effects of forest management on the dynamics of Tricholoma matsutake harvest over 41 years in a Pinus densiflora forest. Mycoscience 2024 (open access). Read 2026-10-23.
- Yamada A. Cultivation studies of edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. Mycoscience 2022 (open access). Read 2026-10-23 (first part of full text).
- Bae IH et al. Multi-meta-omics reveal unique symbiotic synchronization between ectomycorrhizal fungus and soil microbiome in Tricholoma matsutake habitat. Microbiome 2025 (open access). Read 2026-10-23 (introduction and discussion statements).
- Klimaszyk P, Rzymski P. The Yellow Knight Fights Back: Toxicological, Epidemiological, and Survey Studies Defend Edibility of Tricholoma equestre. Toxins 2018 (open access). Read 2026-10-23. The 2001 French case report (Bedry et al., N Engl J Med) was not opened by us; its figures are as reported here.
- Wang C et al. Metals Transfer in Mushroom Tricholoma matsutake from Regional High Geochemical Background Areas. J Fungi 2024 (open access). Read 2026-10-23 (all but the last 525 characters).
- Jin Y et al. Simultaneous Quantitative Determination of Low-Concentration Preservatives and Heavy Metals in Tricholoma Matsutakes. Foods 2023 (open access). Read 2026-10-23.
- Guthrie C, Hasic S, Gordon H. Interspecies distribution and processing stability of ergothioneine and histidine in commercially available mushrooms. MicroPubl Biol 2026. Read 2026-10-23.
- Liang S et al. A Novel Polysaccharide Purified from Tricholoma matsutake: Structural Characterization and In Vitro Immunological Activity. Foods 2025 (open access). Read 2026-10-23 (all but the last part).
- Wikidata (CC0), compounds found in Tricholoma matsutake, Q509308, via the LOTUS imports; site research file
lotus-matsutake.json, retrieved 2026-10-23. Compound pages were not opened. - Warden CR, Benjamin DR. Acute renal failure associated with suspected Amanita smithiana mushroom ingestions: a case series. Acad Emerg Med 1998;5(8):808-812. Abstract read 2026-10-24 via Europe PMC (PMID 9715243); full text not available to us.
- Apperley S, Kroeger P, Kirchmair M, Kiaii M. Laboratory confirmation of Amanita smithiana mushroom poisoning. Clin Toxicol 2013;51(4):249-251. Abstract read 2026-10-24 via Europe PMC (PMID 23506521); full text not available to us.