In the world, there are many expensive mushrooms because they bring high nutritional value, extremely good for human health, but are very rare, very difficult to propagate, and extremely difficult to breed into mass varieties such as other common mushrooms.
The world’s most expensive mushroom is the Yartsa Gunbu (Caterpillar Fungus), which can cost up to $63,000 per pound.
The following Toki Book Top 10 Amazing will introduce 10 most expensive mushrooms in the world today you should know.
Most Expensive Mushroom in the World
1. Truffle Mushroom
- Price Range: $12,000 to $20,000 per kilogram
- Location: France (Perigord), Italy (Alba, Piedmont)
- Famous For: Unique honey-sweet taste, used in luxurious restaurants
- Why Expensive: Extremely rare, cannot be mass-produced, grows underground
Of all the mushrooms used for food processing, truffle is the most precious and rare. It cannot be grown and propagated from mass production like many other types by artificial industrial methods. There are two types of truffle mushrooms: black and white.
Their prices fluctuate according to the annual production output. Before 1914, in the Perigord region of France, they usually harvested 1740 tons of black truffles per year, but now the production of this mushroom is only 200 tons per year. Premium truffle mushrooms on the market are currently priced from 12,000 to 20,000 USD per kilogram and can range from 4,000 to 8,000 USD per kilogram depending on the location.
Known as the king of mushrooms or black diamond, truffles have always been favored and hunted by the nobility in the past because of the nutritional quality and special flavor that this mushroom brings. It is considered the most expensive mushroom and a delicacy of the upper class, often used in restaurants in luxurious hotels. Despite its rough appearance, this mushroom has a unique honey-sweet taste.
Truffles are not like common mushrooms: They grow deep underground and under the roots of some trees such as hazel, pine, and oak, usually harvested around October to December every year. There are about 63 types of truffles in the world, but the most popular are black and white. White truffle mushrooms are commonly found in the town of Alba and Piedmont, Italy, with a strong aroma and strange sweetness, sometimes with a hint of garlic, although the scent does not last long.
2. Cesar mushrooms
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: Africa, Europe, Central America, North America
- Famous For: Fragrant, delicious, and crispy taste
- Why Expensive: Rare species, historically favored by Roman emperors
Cesar mushrooms are widely distributed on all continents, from Africa to Europe, Central America, and North America. They are very small in size, with an average diameter of only about 2.5 centimeters, surrounded by small spines. Scientists have confirmed that this mushroom can prevent many pathogenic bacteria.
As a rare species of mushroom, this mushroom is called chicken seed, so it’s covered by a white membrane like an eggshell. When eaten, it is very fragrant, delicious, and crispy. Caesar the Great mushroom, also known as the Olvoli mushroom, is an extremely rare mushroom in the world. The reason this mushroom is called Caesar is that in the 17th century, the mushroom mentioned above was very popular with emperors, including Caesar of the Roman Empire. Do you know what is most expensive fruit In the world.
3. Lion’s Mane
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: China, Japan, Korea
- Famous For: Sweet taste, used in tea and alcohol
- Why Expensive: Rich in minerals and vitamins, health benefits like fighting Alzheimer’s and cancer
Lion’s mane mushroom, when cooked, will have a sweet taste and a characteristic aroma. If dried, mushrooms will have a slightly bitter taste at first and then turn sweet. You can also use dried mushrooms to make a nutritious dish. Usually, lion’s mane mushroom is used in powder form in a filtered bag so that users can easily fix it, mix it with boiling water into tea, or use it to soak in alcohol.
Lion’s mane mushroom is rich in minerals and vitamins that fight Alzheimer’s disease, inhibit the growth of tumors, white bacteria that cause stomach ulcers, and prevent stomach cancer cells, helping users to enhance health. This mushroom also helps men increase vitality and reduce the harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation when treating cancer.
Lion’s mane mushroom is a temporary mushroom that can only be grown in cool climates. The suitable temperature for mushroom growth is 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature that can be grown is 19 to 22 degrees Celsius. This mushroom is widely grown in China, Japan, and Korea. Nutritional composition of this mushroom is shown through the analysis tables of Professor Mizuno’s group, University of Shizuoka, Japan.
4. Lady Mushroom
- Price Range: Nearly 3 million VND for 500g dried
- Location: South Asia, Africa, Americas, Australia
- Famous For: Unique shape like a woman’s veil
- Why Expensive: Requires skilled chefs for processing, deadly specialty like puffer fish
Seville lady mushrooms have a special shape like a woman’s veil, so they have such a name. This fungus lives mainly in areas such as South Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia. The cap of the mushroom has slime containing greenish-brown spores to attract insects and promote spore dispersal.
Turbine mushrooms are edible and are commonly found in the cuisines of China, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Great Lakes region of North America. It is known that the processing of these mushrooms requires skilled chefs because they are also a deadly specialty like puffer fish. These mushrooms have been grown commercially and sold mainly in the Asian market. Their prices are quite high. 500g dried veiled lady mushrooms cost nearly 3 million VND in the market.
5. White Truffle Mushroom
- Price Range: $3,600 per pound
- Location: Italy (Alba, Piedmont)
- Famous For: Spicy taste, special scent, used in salads and oils
- Why Expensive: Grows underground, rare, high nutritional value
Unlike other mushrooms that grow above the ground, white truffles grow underground. This mushroom has a rather spicy taste with a very special scent like the cell with walnuts when deep-fried. In cuisine, truffles are often sliced into thin slices to decorate dishes to increase their elegance and deliciousness.
In addition, this mushroom can be used to soak in cooking oil and then processed into oil. Truffles are used to make salads with extremely attractive flavors. White truffles can sell for 3,600 dollars a pound, making them one of the most expensive foods in the world. A two-pound mushroom recently sold for 300,000 dollars.
All this has attracted organized crime groups to infiltrate the business, creating a black market and leading to the looting of mushrooms. Just a pair of thin slices of black truffles from France, known as black diamonds, cost hundreds of dollars in Parisian restaurants. White truffles from Italy can be more than three times that price.
The truffle is a delicious and popular delicacy, and by weight, it is the most expensive food in the world. Therefore, it’s known as the most nutritious, rare, and most expensive food in the world.
6. Tremedes Versicolor Mushroom
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: Worldwide on various hardwoods
- Famous For: Turkey tail shape, medicinal properties
- Why Expensive: Powerful antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor properties
Tremedes versicolor is a rare medicinal herb that has been used by the Chinese and Japanese since ancient times. Mushroom tremedes versicolor grows in a concentrated circle around a dead tree. The mushroom body has a slightly curly shape that looks like a cat’s ear mushroom but has no stalk, and the outer edge of the mushroom is white.
Above the mushroom body are many colored brown and white that is interspersed. This fungus usually grows in clusters on the surface of the mushroom. It has a smooth hair color cover. Germini’s versicolor or coloris vista color is a forest fungus that thrives on various hardwoods almost all over the earth.
It has been used for centuries in many parts of the world as a natural medicine that provides powerful antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor properties. It is often referred to as a turkey tail mushroom because of its different shape and colored stripes like the feathers of a wild male turkey tail. It is one of the most widely studied medicinal mushrooms for its effects on enhancing primary and secondary immune functions.
7. Felonious Lintness Mushroom
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: Korea, China, Japan
- Famous For: Health benefits, used by royalty
- Why Expensive: Rare, prevents cancer, regulates blood pressure
Felonious lintness is often known for its use to limit the growth of cancer cells, especially breast cancer in women, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. Not only that, this mushroom can also make blood, help prevent excess fat, help her fear probably the body, and regulate blood pressure. Felonious lintness mushroom is an extremely rare mushroom that can be used by all ages because it has no side effects.
Korean royal mushrooms, scientifically known as filamentous linus, are a rare and precious mushroom famous for many practical uses. The use of this mushroom has been researched, improved by scientists, and verified by consumers through practice. Today, the protection and promotion of health, as well as prevention of diseases, is a top priority for each of us.
This mushroom will be the best solution for you to take care of your health and your loved ones in the best way. Products are being used as gifts and gifts a lot on holidays, replacing meaningful wishes as well as the most sincere concern for the recipient. This is one of the rare mushrooms that have very good effects on health.
8. Matsutake Mushroom
- Price Range: $90 to $2000 per kilogram
- Location: China, Finland, Canada, USA
- Famous For: Unique flavor, used in Japanese and Chinese dishes
- Why Expensive: Grows on rare red pine trees, cannot be artificially grown
Matsutake mushrooms are distributed in many different parts of the world, such as China, Finland, Canada, or the United States. Mushrooms are commonly used in Japanese and Chinese dishes with a unique flavor. This mushroom has become the best spice in the world today, but the processing is extremely elaborate and the price is expensive.
Currently, Japan imports matsutake mushrooms at the price of 90 USD per kilogram. After going through the processing process, the price is up to 2000 USD per kilogram. Matsutake mushroom, the second most expensive mushroom in the world, has a very unique taste, attracting diners from many parts of the world, although the price is only suitable for the rich.
Matsutake mushroom contains 18 kinds of vitamins, with B1, B2, and E having anti-cancer, anti-aging, and blood sugar balance properties. The taste of matsutake mushroom is very characteristically seductive, with pinewood and hints of leaves and moist earth, along with a natural sweetness.
9. Mycenae Chlorophylls
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: Asia, Australia, Brazil
- Famous For: Emits green light in the dark
- Why Expensive: Rare, unique bioluminescent properties
The fungus Mycenae chlorophylls lives only in subtropical environments in parts of Asia, Australia, and Brazil. When in the dark, the cap and stem of this mushroom emit a green light. The light is especially noticeable when the mushroom is one day old and the ambient temperature is around 27 degrees Celsius.
Mycenae chlorophytus fungus glows for 24 hours, but at night is a time when its beauty is most clearly revealed. After the first day, the mushroom cap opens, and the light will fade until it cannot be seen with the naked eye. The fungus Mycenae chlorophos also has the ability to light up both the stem and the cap.
With the appearance of Mycenae continuous, the total number of luminous mushroom species worldwide has reached 74. Mycenae in Gary, the luminous mushroom, makes people easily think of the image of a glowing octopus at the bottom of the sea.
10. Lactarius Indigo
- Price Range: Varies
- Location: Northeast and Central America, East Asia, Southern France
- Famous For: Indigo blue sap, edible
- Why Expensive: Rare, unique color-changing properties
The fungus Lactarius indigo belongs to the family recycling, distributed mainly in northeast and central America, east Asia, and southern France. Lactarius indigo mushrooms vary in color from dark blue to pale green. Older trees, the capitis fungus, have a size ranging from 5 to 15 centimeters,
The root size from 2 to 8 centimeters, and the common height is from 1 to 2.5 centimeters. Currently, this mushroom is marketed in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, and China. The species grows above ground in both deciduous and confinement forests, where it forms mycorrhizal associations with a wide range of trees.
The sap that flows when the fungal tissues are cut or damaged, a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius, is also indigo blue but gradually turns green when exposed to air. It is an edible mushroom and is sold in rural markets in Mexico, Guatemala, and China.
FAQ’s
What is the world’s most expensive mushroom?
The world’s most expensive mushroom is the Yartsa Gunbu (Caterpillar Fungus), which can cost up to $63,000 per pound.
What is the most luxurious mushroom?
The White Truffle is considered the most luxurious mushroom. Found primarily in Italy and Croatia, it can sell for up to $4,000 per pound. Its powerful, earthy aroma and unique flavor make it a prized delicacy in fine dining.
What is the most desirable mushroom?
The Matsutake Mushroom is often regarded as the most desirable due to its unique flavor and rarity. It can cost up to $2,000 per kilogram. Matsutake mushrooms are highly sought after in Japanese cuisine for their distinctive taste and aroma.
Why is lion’s mane mushroom so expensive?
Lion’s mane mushroom is expensive due to its numerous health benefits and the difficulty in cultivation. It is rich in minerals and vitamins, known for its potential neuroprotective properties, and is often used in supplements for brain and nerve support. The quality and purity of lion’s mane, especially when organic and sustainably sourced, also contribute to its high price.