Portabella Mushrooms

– Portabella or portobello are the correct names for these mushrooms, though The Mushroom Council prefers portabella. Portobella is incorrect, though, but everyone gets this confused! While the correct names might be hard to remember, we all know them for their size, earthy flavor, and juicy consistency.

What not a lot of people know is that these mushrooms belong to the same family as white button mushrooms and cremini mushrooms, Agaricus bisporus. They are simply in a different life stage: white button mushrooms are the youngest and richest in polyphenol powers, cremini are middle-aged, and portabella are the eldest. They are not as strong against hormonal cancer cells as the white buttons, also known as baby bella, but they are still packed with great nutrition for us.

Some of the top nutrients in portabella mushrooms are vitamins B2, B3 and B5, as wells as copper, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. These are also the strongest nutrients in white mushrooms, however, the amounts vary. White mushrooms have more vitamin B5, copper and zinc, portabella mushrooms have more vitamins B2 and B3, and they both have about the same amount of phosphorus, potassium, and selenium.

Generally speaking, portabella mushrooms support our immune function, our metabolism, our reproduction and lactation, our off-spring’s early development, our thyroid, our brain and nervous system, our heart, our bones, and our muscles.

Choose portabella mushrooms if you need larger mushroom pieces, if you’re planning to stuff them, or if you like a slightly earthier flavor. Same as with all mushrooms, be sure to cook them well before eating to reduce its agaratine content, which may lead to cancer.

Try our personalized nutrition calculator below to see just how much nutrition you and your family can get from eating portabella mushrooms.