Parasol Mushroom

Safety first. The parasol is a well-known wild food, but one of its look-alikes, the green-spored lepiota (Chlorophyllum molybdites), is poisonous. Missouri's conservation agency calls the parasol a "choice edible" only with caution, tells foragers to take a spore print, and names the green-spored lepiota (greenish spore print, gills that turn grey or green with age) as a species that must not be confused with it. [1] Do not identify wild fungi from text or an app: have an experienced local expert confirm every find in person.

The short version. Parasol is a tall mushroom with a large cap, eaten as food in parts of Europe. It is a food, not a proven medicine. Reports of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity come from laboratory work on extracts and cells; we found no trial in people. [2][4][5]

Two separate questions. Eating the mushroom is one question (what it is, how to avoid a mix-up, metals, allergy). Taking an extract as a supplement is another, and for parasol there is hardly any supplement market and no human evidence.

What it is

Macrolepiota procera (Scop.) Singer is a large wild mushroom of grass and woodland edges. [2][3] A 2025 review describes it as a source of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals that also contains polyphenols, flavonoids and triterpenoids, and says full reviews of the species are still scarce. [2] Related Latin names you may see include Lepiota procera. We did not verify the full list of synonyms from a source.

The green-spored lepiota look-alike

• Spore print. Missouri's agency says the green-spored lepiota has a greenish spore print and white gills that turn grey or green with age; it calls the species poisonous and says it should not be confused with the parasol. [1]
• Another look-alike. The same page names the reddening lepiota (Leucoagaricus americanus), which bruises and ages red. [1] This is not a complete list; we did not read a source that lists every look-alike, and some other small Lepiota species are known to be dangerous. One of them, the deadly parasol, has its own page: deadly parasol (Lepiota brunneoincarnata). We do not describe the others here.
• What the poisoning looks like. On Reunion Island, 19 people were poisoned in six events in 2020 and 2021, mostly after sharing a pan-fried wild-mushroom meal. Fifteen had stomach and gut irritation starting 30 minutes to 3 hours after eating, and C. molybdites was identified in four cases. [6] Surveillance in Zhejiang, China found it the dominant poisonous species in 12 years of data (abstract only). [7]
• If someone has eaten a wild mushroom and feels ill, call poison help straight away (United States: 1-800-222-1222). See poisoning symptoms and urgent help.

Eating it safely

• Missouri's agency advises eating only a small amount of any edible mushroom the first time, in case you react. [1]
• We did not find a source that states a cooking requirement specific to parasol. The general advice for wild mushrooms is to cook them; see cooking edible mushrooms safely.
• The 2025 review notes that proper processing can lower metal and antinutrient risks but gives no method or time for parasol. [2]

Food and nutrition

USDA FoodData Central has no parasol entry. The 2025 review gives wide ranges for dried material: protein 7.6 to 39.7%, carbohydrate 40.9 to 60.3%, fat 0.7 to 4.2%, and about 88 to 92% water when fresh. [2] The review's table cites studies that mix in a related species, so treat these as rough. A fatty-acid profile quoted there is mostly unsaturated (linoleic acid 62.4%). [2] It also lists potassium, calcium, iron, zinc and several B vitamins without reliable per-portion values. [2] Nothing here shows a nutrient role for people eating a normal portion; no source we read measured ergothioneine or vitamin D in parasol.

What research shows

• Cell dishes. A hot-water extract inhibited lung-cancer (A549) cells with a half-maximal concentration of 2 mg per millilitre at 72 hours; another set of extracts had values of about 19 to 80 micrograms per millilitre against three cancer cell lines (figures as quoted by the review). [2] A polysaccharide fraction from Polish fruiting bodies held back growth of HT-29 colon-cancer cells (IC50 15 micrograms per millilitre, 96 hours) and blocked inflammation enzymes in a test tube, without measurable harm to normal colon cells in the same test. [4] These are laboratory results at concentrations a person would not reach by eating a portion.
• Isolated compounds. Twelve new triterpenoids, the lepiotaprocerins A to L, were found in Polish fruiting bodies; A to F reduced nitric-oxide production in cells and G to L were toxic to several human cancer cell lines. [5]
• Antioxidant tests. The review reports radical-scavenging in test tubes (IC50 311 micrograms per millilitre). [2]
• Blood sugar, liver, heart. The review states effects on enzymes and in some models without human data or clear sources. [2] Not shown.
• People. We found no randomised or other human trial of parasol for any health purpose. Proper evidence not found.

Lab data and chemistry

A. What the laboratory literature reports in this mushroom. Wikidata (CC0, the open knowledge base that imports the LOTUS natural-products data) lists 12 compounds found in Macrolepiota procera (Q243381), all lepiotaprocerins A to L; the file carries no paper reference, so the paper behind them is the 2018 study we read the abstract of. [9][5] A presence entry means "reported in at least one study of this species", not "in every specimen".

B. Measured values. USDA FoodData Central has no parasol entry (checked against our USDA file). Values below are from papers; none is our own measurement.

C. What the numbers do and do not mean.

• Values vary by site, soil, age at picking, drying and extraction; the two metal collections are only two sites.


• A compound found in a mushroom does not show a health effect; the cancer and inflammation results used extracts or isolated compounds in cells.


• The beta-glucan figure comes from an enzyme-based assay on fruiting body; "beta-glucan" on a supplement label may use a different test.


• Cap and stem differ for metals, so the part eaten matters.


• This is a wild food: no mycelium-on-grain comparison exists for parasol, and we found no such supplement data.

Related pages

• Giant puffball
• Shaggy mane
• Cooking edible mushrooms safely
• Mushroom heavy metals and contamination
• Mushroom poisoning symptoms and urgent help