The China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications officially entered into force on March 1, 2021. It is China's first bilateral comprehensive and high-level agreement on the protection of geographical indications (GIs), and an important and practical outcome in the development of China-EU economic and trade relations in recent years.
We will continue to introduce to you the first batch of 100 Chinese GIs and 100 European GIs under the Agreement, to better protect and market them to meet the needs of consumers on both sides for a better life.
GI Episode 31: Luoyuan Pleurotus Geesteranus
Luoyuan, a county in Fuzhou of Fujian province, is known as “the No.1 county of Pleurotus Geesteranus cultivation in China.” It is the country’s largest production base of the edible mushroom Pleurotus geesteranus, and also where this mushroom’s cultivation started. Luoyuan has a long history of edible mushroom production, with mushroom and fungus appearing in Luochuan Records, a local chronicle written during the Jiajing years (1522-1566) of Ming dynasty. In 1997, Pleurotus geesteranus was introduced into the county from the Taiwan region. After more than 20 years of cultivation, the yield accounts for about 60% of the national total.
Luoyuan Pleurotus Geesteranus features a fan-shaped top, about 2-3 cm in diameter, and its handle is a white solid column, making it look like a light grey or grey-black umbrella. Besides the high-quality appearance, it tastes crisp, delicious, and tender in texture with less fibre content. Because of its unique flavour, it is also known as “the seasoning mushroom.” It also has a very high nutritional value. Its protein content is 3 to 6 times that of ordinary vegetables, and even higher than that of Agaricus bisporus mushroom, mushroom, button mushroom and other edible fungi. It also contains threonine, lysine, and leucine, which are essential to the human body and usually lacking in food. It is a nutritious food with high protein and low fat.
Luoyuan adopts a unique wall-mounted three-dimensional cultivation mode, and the production process is strictly pollution-free: selecting culture materials, bagging and sterilization, cooling and inoculation, bagged cultivation, mushroom production management, collection and packaging, and cold-chain transportation, to guarantee the quality of mushroom.
Today, Luoyuan produces over 50,000 tons of Pleurotus geesteranus a year, and about 30% of its population (about 75,000) is engaged in industries related to its cultivation. Pleurotus geesteranus cultivation has empowered local villagers to emerge from poverty, and become the county’s best example of achieving rural revitalization.
