Russula spp.

As its name implies, the sickener is inedible, though not as dangerous as sometimes described in older mushroom guides. The symptoms are mainly gastrointestinal in nature: nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, and colicky abdominal cramps. These symptoms typically begin half an hour to three hours after ingestion of the mushroom, and usually subside spontaneously, or shortly after the ingested material has been expelled from the intestinal tract. The active agents have not been identified but are thought to be sesquiterpenes, which have been isolated from the related genus Lactarius and from Russula sardonia. Sesquiterpenoids that have been identified from R. emetica include the previously known compounds lactarorufin A, furandiol, methoxyfuranalcohol, and an unnamed compound unique to this species.