Consumption structure of forest mushrooms by residents of contaminated districts of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

The article presents results of the study of consumption levels of different types of forest mushrooms by residents of the most contaminated south-western territories of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. To collect and analyze the data, the method of face-to-face questionnaire survey of adult population was applied according to individual questionnaires developed by the staff of Federal Funded Institution of Science «Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev». In addition to general information, the questionnaires included questions about the species composition of the mushroom basket, the volume and proportion of consumption of each type of mushrooms by the respondent and his/her family members (both in the current and previous seasons). In the period from 2019 to 2022, within the framework of the “Program of joint activities of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the Union State for the protection of the population and rehabilitation of the territories affected by the Chernobyl NPP disaster”, the staff of the Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev conducted the questionnaire survey of the respondents. Based on the analysis of data from individual interviews with 1 756 adult respondents, the group (61% of respondents) that could potentially receive an additional contribution to internal dose from mushroom consumption was identified. According to the research, the average consumption of mushrooms by the local population (including those who excluded mushrooms from their diet) is 4,7 kg/year per person, while the average consumption of mushrooms by the group of respondents whose diet includes mushrooms is 7,9 kg/year per person. The structure of the mushroom diet for respondents who eat mushrooms is as follows: cep /boletus edulis (28%), chanterelles / cantharellus cibarius (19%), annulated boletus / suillus luteus (14%), orange-cup boletus / leccinium aurantiacum (11%), rough boletus / leccinium scabrum (10%), honey fungus / armilaria mellea (9%), whitish russula /russila delica and orange milkcap / lactarius deterrimus (5%), yellow knight / tricholoma equestre(3%), russules / russula (0,3%) and various rarely consumed mushrooms (oyster mushrooms, coral milkcaps, paxils, morels, stitches, bay bolete and champignons – 1%).