The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
A mushroom of the family Dictyophora, synonymous with US islands of Hawaii was published in a study as orgasm-inducing among women.
The mushroom cunningly resembles a man's phallus – dressed up in a fishnet like covering. According to the study, published in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms in 2001, smell from the mushroom triggered spontaneous orgasms.
The research was conducted by John Holliday of Next Laboratories in Kula, Hawaii and Noah Soule of Aloha Medicinals who tested the mushroom's aphrodisiac effect through an experiment involving 16 women and 20 men.
Volunteers were asked to sniff the mushroom, which is said to have a 'fetid odour'. Six women, the study reports, had orgasms, while the other 10, who received smaller doses, experienced an increase in heart rate.
The study explained: "There are significant sexual arousal characteristics present in the fetid odour of this unique mushroom. These results suggest that the hormone like compounds present in the volatile portion of the spore mass may have some similarity to human neurotransmitters during sexual encounters."
Interestingly Dictyophora mushrooms are also found in other continents, including Africa, and tend to emit potent smells. Specifically, Dictyophora indusiata mushroom, from the same family, smells like faeces.
join