Beyond their culinary use, mushrooms are quickly gaining attention for their ability to support focus, immunity, energy, and stress resilience. Considered a key to good health in many traditional healing modalities, functional mushrooms are experiencing a revival in North America.
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If you’re reading this article, you may have noticed that the supplement market has become flushed with medicinal mushroom products - including mushroom powders, tinctures and capsules. With so many choices available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
Before you invest in a mushroom product, it’s important to know what to look for to ensure optimal health support. In order to determine the quality and potency of a mushroom supplement, we recommend looking at a few key factors to guide your decision.
Read on to learn how to choose the highest-quality mushroom supplement to support your daily wellness needs.
Disclaimer:This blog is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your health care practitioner before adding any new herbs to your wellness routine.
Begin by looking at what the mushroom supplement is made of. Broadly speaking, most medicinal mushroom products are crafted with fruiting body mushrooms, mycelium or both.
For thousands of years, people have consumed fruiting body mushrooms to support longevity and vitality. Today, a significant body of modern scientific research further validates the therapeutic potential of fruiting body mushrooms. While both mycelium and fruiting body contain active polysaccharides, recent research shows that the concentration of active compounds and beta-glucans is highest in fruiting body mushrooms as opposed to mycelium.
Another important consideration is how the mushroom was grown. Mycelium supplements are typically cultivated in a lab and are grown on grain-based substrates, such as rice. Much of that substrate ends up in the final mycelium product as filler, limiting its potency. While fruiting body mushrooms involve a longer cultivation process, they are often grown on wood to replicate the natural environment in which wild mushrooms thrive. This growing method ensures the mushroom can produce a wide variety of active compounds and phytochemicals needed to nourish human health.
Extraction unlocks all the healing properties within the mushroom. This vital step breaks down indigestible fibre and chitin within the cell walls, creating a final product that is bioavailable and potent. Proper extraction will yield concentrated levels of fungal polysaccharides, triterpenes and beta-glucans that are easy for your body to absorb. There are two main types of extraction:
Hot water extraction is the most common type of extraction method. It involves heating the mushrooms in large vats of hot water and simmering them for a long period of time as a “decoction.” This type of extraction is necessary to release the water-soluble polysaccharides within the mushrooms, including beta-glucans. Each of our mushrooms undergoes a hot water extraction to unlock these active compounds.
For mushrooms that are woodier in texture and density, an alcohol extraction is necessary to free up beneficial triterpenes. This is accomplished by saturating fruiting bodies in alcohol for several weeks, and then pressing the liquid afterwards.
Without proper extraction, the mushroom supplement is inferior in terms of bioavailability and potency.
After learning more about the extraction method utilized by a mushroom company, the next step is to check the extraction ratio, or concentration, of the product. This will give you a great idea of the amount of mushroom medicine you receive per serving. For example, our Reishi Concentrated Mushroom Powder has an extraction ratio of 12:1. This means that every 1 gram (¼ tsp) of Reishi Mushroom Powder consumed is equivalent to 12 grams of whole, fruiting body Reishi.
If the extract ratio is not found on the packaging, reach out to the company to ask for more information. Working with a mushroom supplement that has a high extraction ratio means that it will be more potent and easier to digest, giving you a high concentration of wellness benefits in a small amount of product.
For all the reasons listed above, it's equally important to look for fruiting body mushrooms that are certified organic. This certification ensures your mushroom supplement is free of any pesticides, herbicides or chemicals that could pose harm to your health. Organically grown mushrooms are also more likely to contain a broader spectrum of polysaccharides and beta-glucans to benefit human health.
We’re proud to source our fruiting body mushrooms from Certified Organic farms located in the pristine, mountainous regions of Zhejiang, China. We partner with farmers who practice sustainable and ethical growing and harvesting practices. Because our mushrooms are cultivated on controlled farms that mimic their natural environment, they are high quality and contain potent therapeutic benefits.
China supplies over 85% of the world’s functional mushrooms because of a deep commitment to organic, traditional growing and harvesting methodologies. If a company is advertising 100% fruiting body mushrooms that are made in North America, dig deeper. It is more likely that they are sourcing their mushrooms from China and then packaging the product locally.
A great way to check the quality and potency of the mushroom supplement is to ask for a Certificate of Analysis. These certificates will show exactly what the mushrooms were tested for and what the findings were. Our mushrooms go through multiple rounds of testing before they are packaged and shipped to you. We look for chemical characteristics, such as polysaccharide content, as well as microbiological characteristics to make sure they are free from harmful bacteria and heavy metals.
Learn more about how we source, test and produce our mushroom supplements here.
Here at Harmonic Arts, we have combined ancient herbal tradition with modern scientific research. Our collection of high-quality Mushroom Capsules, Powders, and Tinctures meet the demands of today’s wellness needs.
In most countries, mushroom supplements fall under food regulations rather than laws governing medicines. Meaning the label falls under food labelling requirements. These are fairly basic and allow for broad interpretation. Consequently, there is little standard, making it hard for people to compare brands and verify that they are getting what they have paid for.
At the very least, the label should give the following ‘factual’ information about what it contains:
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Wholesale Mushroom Powder. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
If it doesn’t have this information, leave it on the shelf.
This is important as many of fungi’s therapeutic properties are attributed to the β-glucans – the higher the percentage, the better. Having the β-glucan content listed (as a %) demonstrates that the product is probably authentic, and the person making or selling it is likely reputable. Here’s a link to the health benefits of beta glucan
The ratio is an indicator of the concentration or potency of the product. Generally, the higher the better. If a ratio is not provided, suspect that it is low, so of little value. The extraction mathod should be dual: meaning both water and alcohol were used for production. If the product doesn’t explicitly state dual, assume only a water extraction was used, resulting in the loss of many of the mushrooms’ essential properties.
The ratio tells you how many dried mushrooms it took to make the extract. For instance, a 12:1 ratio means that 12kg of dried mushrooms were used to make 1kg of finished product. That is a lot of mushrooms, and a reason why supplements can be so expensive. However, at 12:1 it is starting to max out. So if you see something above 16:1 it probably has little additional value.
A note on powders: Although an extract often comes in a powdered form, it is not a mushroom powder. Mushroom powders are merely dried mushrooms ground into a powder. This will be a 1:1 ratio, and much of the mushrooms’ health properties will be locked in the undigestible fibres, so not bioavailable to our bodies. This is also true of eating functional mushrooms raw. You would probably need to eat a huge amount that it’s of little benefit compared to taking it in extract form.
Ensure that the product description clearly states that it is made from only fruiting bodies. Containing mycelium is generally not a good thing, as it is often used as a filler to bulk up the mix. Mycelium includes the substrate on which the mushroom was grown, usually a grain like rice. Essentially all you are buying is very expensive grain. Some mushroom’s like Lion’s Mane, may have extra compounds in the mycelia, but this is offset if the substrate is included.
There is an exception: where the mycelium was grown on a liquid culture, so no substrate ends up in the mix. This is an exceedingly difficult and expensive process. Most European and US manufacturers, as well as New Zealand growers, grow on grain rather than liquid cultures.
The high ratio (or concentration) of the extract underscores the importance of using organic mushrooms. This high extract ratio implies that any inorganic matter (unwanted substances) may be present in an equally high concentration.
Similar to the above, some manufacturers will increase the product weight (and watering down the mushroom content) by using fillers. If fillers or binders are used, they diminish the mushroom ratio. Look for a statement that says no fillers or binders. If you don’t see this, assume that they have.
If the product contains any other ingredients, like in a mushroom coffee, that other ingredients are listed as a percentage. If a tinture, often containing alcohol, the alcohol content displayed. This is a requirement of a food label. In some cases a nutritional content information may also need to be displayed.
Most therapeutic mushrooms are grown in China, where there is a slight risk that the water used in their cultivation may be contaminated with things like heavy metals. Consequently, all mushrooms intended for supplements should undergo testing for contamination. You should have access to evidence of independent testing. Since the extract is highly concentrated, the presence of heavy metals will be equally amplified.
Most countries legally require the manufacturer’s name and complete contact details to be on the label. If these are missing, it’s a clear indication that the manufacturer is not to be trusted. And, very likely the product is not what it claims to be.
Make sure you know the botanical name of the mushroom, and check this on the label. Some manufactures will list the common name (of the mushroom), but swap it out with a different one. For instance in NZ, Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) is very often swapped out with Hericium novae-zealandiae (aka PekePeke-Kiore) or Hericium coralloides (aka Coral Tooth).
Also, Reishi should be Ganoderma lucidum, not Ganoderma applanatum (aka Artist’s Conk or Bracket)
In respect to the Lion’s Mane switch-a-roo in NZ. For bio-security reasons, Lion’s Mane is illegal to grow there, to protect a native species of mushroom known as Peke Peke Kiore.
However, some mushroom growers in NZ have rebranded ‘Peke’ as NZ Lion’s Mane, hoping to capitalise on Lion’s Mane reputation of high nootropic properties. When purchasing most people will think, it’s the ‘real’ Lions Mane that they are buying. Although ‘Peke’ is a distant cousin to Lion’s Mane, it is still an entirely different mushroom with no known therapeutic value (despite the claims otherwise).
These companies are essentially selling people a Skoda and claiming it’s an Audi because it’s made by the same company. At best this is just unethical, at worst, it is probably illegal because it falls under misleading advertising.
Here’s more information about the mushrooms not allowed to be grown in NZ
Since there is limited space on the label, many sellers will try to influence your opinion using misleading practices instead.
Other words commonly found on labels and their meanings. Consider these as red flags indicating potential issues.
It should provide you with good and objective information to compare products and make an informed choice. For instance, it should provide quantities that, when divided by the price, you’ll get a clear indication of value.
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