Mycelium products, by contrast, are mildly sweet. As Chilton points out, medicinal mushrooms like shiitake or maitake are “aromatic and powerful,” while reishi is bitter. It should not smell at all like starch (for example, like cereal or crackers). True medicinal mushroom supplements will have a distinct, rich smell (like, well, mushrooms) this could be earthy, musty or bitter, depending on the variety of medicinal mushroom. If you do purchase a medicinal mushroom product, smell and taste it. This is essential, he notes, to keep the marketplace stocked with high-quality products with medicinal value, while also promoting strong consumer confidence. His ultimate goal: To have a comprehensive screening process that qualitatively and quantitatively measures any given medicinal mushroom product. Still, despite the high growth, there is little to no quality control in the industry. As Chilton puts it: “One might say that medicinal mushrooms have arrived, and in view of their growth trajectory, are destined to become a much bigger market in North America.” That’s not to mention the many companies (North Spore included) that are specifically dedicated to growing and selling mushrooms, mushroom products, and at-home grow kits. The North American market has likewise expanded exponentially over the last 25 years, he adds, and today just about every company that offers all manner of nutritional supplements has at least one mushroom supplement-or two or three-in its product line. Paul Stamets and he have taken divergent paths on the subject over the past several decades the two actually wrote a book together in 1983, “The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home.”Īccording to Chilton, the worldwide market value of medicinal mushrooms is growing rapidly, having more than doubled from $6 billion USD in 1999 to $18 billion USD in 2014. Still, many mycologists, Jeff Chilton included, refute these claims. Even one of the study reviewers asked for an additional reviewer with statistical expertise to provide review, but the editor for whatever reason chose not to have this review done. This means that although the authors might like to make some assertions, they don’t have the data to do so. Unfortunately, the sample sizes in the study were so small as to be statistically meaningless (ever rolled the same number three times in a row with a six-sided die?). The findings from the study do show it is possible that this immunological activity occurs from mycelium and its substrate. The authors go a step further and assert that this means the mycelium and the substrate on which it grows offer “unique yet complementary” health benefits. Ultimately, the study authors assert that the tested mushroom mycelium triggered immune cell function, while the substrate the mycelium was scraped from was “highly active” in supporting natural immune function. However, an analysis of the study and comments shows several issues, raising questions as to how their results should be interpreted. Fungi Perfecti emphasizes that this study involved an open peer review process consisting of unbiased expert review, publicly available peer review comments, and quality design and documentation. to test three of its products and determine whether there are health-enhancing benefits of not only mushroom mycelium, but the fermented rice substrate on which it is grown. Recently, the Washington state-based company partnered with the labs at Natural Immune Systems Inc. The finished medicinal mushroom extract is entirely derived from the mushroom. Mushrooms grow directly from the blocks, are harvested, dried and extracted, typically in hot water and alcohol. Grain spawn is mixed into sawdust, over weeks or months the sawdust is allowed to culture with mushroom mycelium, and then the fully myceliated sawdust ‘blocks’ are exposed to a moisture and oxygen rich environment. The process of growing mushrooms is longer and more involved. They don’t process the grain spawn into the supplement itself. Sinden of Penn State in 1932.Ĭompanies-such as North Spore- that make mushroom supplements from fruit bodies, use this grain spawn as a base for cultivating the medicinal mushrooms. This material is referred to as “grain spawn,” and the process was developed and patented by Dr. In the mushroom cultivation process, pure mycelium is essentially used as the seed it is introduced and grown on a carrier material, typically millet, rye or wheat. And now we come to the heady discussion about the different methods to derive mushroom supplements-namely, mushroom supplements derived from fruiting bodies versus mushroom supplements derived from mycelium.
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