A “Mushroom King” born from a rotten apple 🍎🍄
After two years of being followed by netizens, the viral “Fruit Mushroom King” has finally arrived.
The story began in 2024, during China’s plum rain season, when a woman in Deqing discovered a rare white mushroom growing from a rotten apple that was almost thrown away.
Photos of the strange fungus went viral online and caught the attention of researchers at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Scientists found it was an extremely rare Schizophyllum strain naturally sprouting from an apple — a valuable resource for mushroom breeding.
The apple traveled more than 2,000 km to a laboratory, where the strain was nicknamed “Fruit Mushroom King.”
The original wild strain was tough and dry, making it difficult to eat. Researchers then crossed it with space-bred mushroom strains carried aboard China’s Shenzhou-12 spacecraft.
After eight generations of selection and improvement, the new variety now has a crisp texture, produces almost no spores, and can be harvested in just 15–20 days.
The improved mushroom is now entering small-scale commercial production.