pharmacy students study mushrooms to avoid poisoning

When you open the door to the classroom, a sacred smell tickles your nostrils. No wonder, on the benches, more than 80 species of mushrooms are neatly lined up. This is the harvest of students in 5^e year of pharmacy. The day before, they went to the Moulière forest for some blissful picking.

2,600 species of mushrooms, including 10 deadly and twenty toxic

“They picked up everything they found. This morning, we sorted them according to their appearance. This afternoon, they must recognize each species, find their name and classify them”explains Stéphanie Pain, pharmacist and toxicology professor who runs this practical work course. There we find a radiant collyby, a splendid cortinaria, a yellow milkweed or even a sulfur tricholoma…

These mushrooms are all very beautiful. But are they edible? It is this central question that they will have to answer. Because if they’re not edible, “Intoxication syndromes” are legion. Understand “intoxication syndromes” in the jargon of budding pharmacists. Vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, hallucinations…

Stéphanie Pain comments: “In Vienna alone, we can find 2,600 species of mushrooms. Ten are fatal. Twenty toxic. Others should be rejected. » Here is how these mushrooms are classified. “To reject it is that there won’t necessarily be symptoms but that’s not good. » Like this sulfur with tricholomas. “He, it’s quite easy, just feel it…” Ugh! A horrible smell of sulfur emanates from it. Anaïs and Camille laugh: “For him, it’s detectable, but for others much less…”

Some people get lost… “Is this one a cloudy clitocide or a livid entoloma? » Good question! Visually, they look very similar. Except that if the first is edible, the second is toxic… The pharmacist from Rouillé, Marie-Hélène Tessier, confirms: “The biggest confusion we see in our pharmacies is between these two species. »

“It is a sacred responsibility”

Pharmacy students will learn to distinguish them and know toxic and deadly mushrooms by heart. Note from their teacher: “When they examine them, they will have a number of mushrooms to classify. If they make one out of something inedible, it’s zero foul. They are going to catch up. » This is not about taking the lives of their future patients lightly. Anaïs and Camille know that “it’s a responsibility” and admit that “it’s a pressure”. And to add: “In addition, depending on the region, we find different species so if we move, we will have to upgrade. » A few days ago, former students who had become pharmacists came to refresh their skills during a course. Mycology is endless learning.

Mushroom fair, Saturday October 26 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday October 27 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. At the forest house in Montamisé, in the Moulière forest. Free and free entry. Collection outings; Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. Annual mycological exhibition organized by the Mycological Society of Poitou.