Lightning-like electricity makes mushrooms multiply

Washington, Apr 11 (ANI): When exposed to lightning-like electricity, mushrooms start multiplying, according to an ongoing research.

For decades, farmers in Japan have welcomed storms over their fields, as they believe that lightning strikes provoke plentiful harvests of mushrooms, which are staples of Japanese cuisine, reports National Geographic News.

Now, in four-year study, boffins in northern Japan bombarded a variety of mushrooms in lab-based garden plots with artificially induced lightning to see if electricity actually makes the fungi multiply.

The results showed that lightning-strength jolts of electricity can more than double the yield of certain mushroom species compared with conventional cultivation methods.

"We have tried these experiments with ten types of mushroom so far and have found that it is effective in eight species," said Koichi Takaki, an associate professor in engineering at Iwate University.

"We saw the best effects in shiitake and nameko mushrooms, while we also tested reishi mushrooms, which are not edible but are used in certain types of traditional Chinese medicine," he said. (ANI)