page_title: Suillus luteus
section_title: Edibility
hierarchical_section_title: Suillus luteus / Edibility
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Suillus. Eastern Siberia
context_page_description: Suillus luteus is a bolete fungus, and the type species of the genus Suillus. A common fungus native to Eurasia, from the British Isles to Korea, it has been introduced widely elsewhere, including North and South America, southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Commonly referred to as slippery jack or sticky bun in English-speaking countries, its names refer to the brown cap, which is characteristically slimy in wet conditions. The fungus, initially described as Boletus luteus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, is now classified in a different family as well as genus. Suillus luteus is edible, though not as highly regarded as other bolete mushrooms, and is commonly prepared and eaten in soups, stews or fried dishes. The slime coating, however, may cause indigestion if not removed before eating.
  The fungus grows in coniferous forests in its native range, and pine plantations in countries where it has become naturalized. It forms symbiotic ectomycorrhizal associations with living trees by enveloping the tree's underground roots with sheaths of fungal tissue. The fungus produces spore-bearing fruit bodies, often in large numbers, above ground in summer and autumn.
context_section_description: Suillus luteus is an edible mushroom, but the slime must be removed. Although some authors regard it as one of low quality, and generally inferior to co-occurring species such as Boletus pinophilus, the species is considered a delicacy in Slavic cultures (known as maslyata in Russian or maślaki in Polish, deriving from words meaning "buttery"). It was highly regarded in Calabria, even more than Boletus edulis, until the 1940s when increased interest in the latter species eclipsed the former. Mushrooms conforming to Suillus luteus are exported from Chile to Italy, and, since the 1970s, the United States. As of 2002, harvesters in Chile were paid on average US$0.5 per kilogram of fruit bodies.
  In Burundi, Suillus luteus mushrooms are sold to Europeans as cepes in Bujumbura but not generally eaten by the Barundi. Based on samples collected from Chile, the boletes contain (as a percentage of dry weight) 20% protein, 57% carbohydrates, 6% fat, and 6% ash. Pinus radiata plantations in southeastern Australia have become tourist attractions as people flock to them in autumn to pick slippery jacks and saffron milk-caps (Lactarius deliciosus); Belanglo State Forest in particular has attracted large numbers of Polish foragers.
  Slippery jacks do not keep for long after picking, nor are they suitable for drying, as their water content is too high. They are suited for frying, or cooking in stews and soups, either alone or with other mushroom species. Puréeing the mushroom is not recommended, however: "We once made the mistake of running it through a blender to make a soup. The result was a substance recommending itself for use when hanging wallpaper." S. luteus and other Suillus species may cause allergic reactions in some people or digestive problems that appear to result from consuming the slimy skin. The fungus is better cooked before eating, and some authors recommend discarding the glutinous cuticle and tubes before cooking. Moreover, the skin can spoil other fungi with which slippery jacks are collected.
  Inexpensive powdered S. luteus fruit bodies are sometimes added to the more expensive B. edulis mushroom soup powder, a fraudulent practice that is difficult to detect with microscopy because the tissues are no longer intact. This adulteration can be determined chemically, however, by testing for increased levels of the sugar alcohols arabitol and mannitol. The practice can also be determined with a DNA-based method that is sensitive enough to detect the addition of 1–2% of S. luteus to B. edulis powder.
caption: Suillus growing in eastern Siberia
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