Insects Everyone Has Eaten

Insects Everyone Has Eaten

You many want to think twice before ordering mushrooms on your next pizza.  You may have heard that mushrooms are more closely related to humans than to plants, but what you may not have heard is that mushrooms share a particularly close ancestry with insects.

A molecule known as chitlin, which is a complex carbohydrate found in both animals and fungi, is important to the development of the hard cell walls in fungi as well as the rigid exoskeletons protecting insects.  This chitlin molecule is indeed similar to a molecule that plants produce to build cell walls, but it is chitlin that makes this structure more durable and harder to penetrate—Think about that next time you bite into a mushroom!

Not only do mushrooms and insects share a similar texture as a result of the same molecular components, but like all animals, fungi rely on outside food sources to sustain energy.  Much like a housefly, fungi use a corrosive enzyme to breakdown nutrients for consumption.  If you like mushrooms then don’t let this information deter you from eating them, instead consider the possibility that insects are quite tasty.

Are you going to order mushrooms on your next pizza?