History
Poisonings related to consumption of the false morel Gyromitra esculenta, a highly regarded fungus eaten mainly in Finland and by some in parts of Europe and North America, had been reported for at least a hundred years. Experts speculated the reaction was more of an allergic one specific to the consumer, or a misidentification, rather than innate toxicity of the fungus, due to the wide range in effects seen. Some would suffer severely or perish while others exhibited no symptoms after eating similar amounts of mushrooms from the same dish. Yet others would be poisoned after eating the fungus for many years without ill-effects. In 1885, Böhm and Külz described helvellic acid, an oily substance they believed to be responsible for the toxicity of the fungus. The identity of the toxic constituents of Gyromitra species eluded researchers until 1968, when N-methyl-N-formylhydrazone was isolated by German scientists List and Luft and named gyromitrin. Each kilogram of fresh false morel had between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of the compound.
Read more about this topic: Gyromitrin
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