[Factors determining students' knowledge on wild mushrooms]

A survey was conducted among students of university schools in Nowy Sacz, Biała Podlaska and Zamość to determine the guidelines of mushroom poisoning prevention. The study included 580 people. The dependence of knowledge about mushrooms from the place of origin of students, frequency of participation in mushrooming, preferred sources of information about mushrooms, major of study and self-competence in discsriminating of mushrooms was determined. Mushrooms gathered nearly 80% of respondents. Residents of large cities more often that those living in villages and small towns have difficulites in distinguishing the edible and poisonous mushrooms. People often participating in mushrooming retain proper habits during the harvesting and processing of mushrooms. Irrational ways of distinguishing edible mushrooms from poisonous are often rejected by inexperienced people than by frequently gathering mushrooms. Nearly 20% of respondents, regardless of their own experience and self-assessment of their competence in discriminating mushrooms belive that after culinary preparation can by safely consume even deadly poisonous species. The primary source of knowledge on mushrooms for the majority of responents are parents. There was no correlation between the preferred source of information about mushrooms and belief in the myths about them. Knowledge on the mushrooms of medical students (nursing, emergency medical service) is not greater than students other courses.