400 FUNGI: GENERAL TERMS

This category contains products made from mushrooms and from the material that mushrooms grow from. You'll find tinctures, oils and powders, and also grow kits with which you grow your own. The differences lie in the species, in the part of the fungus that is processed and in the form of the end product. Those three points determine exactly what you're buying.

The best-known species, botanically

• Lion's mane, botanically Hericium erinaceus. A white to cream-coloured fungus with long, hanging spines instead of a cap with gills. Grows on hardwood, especially beech and oak.
• Reishi, Ganoderma lucidum. The fruiting bodies are kidney- or fan-shaped, with a shiny reddish-brown top and a tough, woody structure.
• Chaga, Inonotus obliquus, does not resemble a classic mushroom. It is a black, cracked lump on living birches. The outside is charcoal-like, the inside rust-brown and cork-like.

Fruiting body and mycelium

A mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungus. The thread-like network in wood, straw or soil is called mycelium. Both are processed, but they are different raw materials with a different composition. The label therefore often states which part is used: fruiting body or mycelium. Mycelium is usually grown on grain, which means grain residues can end up in the end product. Anyone looking for a pure product should watch for that mention.

From harvest to raw material

After harvest the material is cleaned, cut into pieces and dried at low temperature, until the moisture content is low enough for storage. The dried material then goes to the mill or to extraction. For every batch we record which species it concerns, which part of the fungus is processed and where the material comes from.

Powder, extract, tincture and oil

Powder is dried and ground material, otherwise unprocessed. An extract is made by boiling that material in water, steeping it in alcohol, or both in sequence. Extracts often state an extraction ratio such as 8:1 or 10:1. That means eight or ten parts of dried starting material have been reduced to one part extract. A tincture is a liquid extract in a bottle with a pipette. In oils the material is incorporated in a plant oil base.

Grow kits and storage

A grow kit is a ready-made box with a substrate of straw or sawdust that is already colonised with mycelium. You moisten the substrate and place the box at room temperature in a light spot without direct sunlight. With sufficient humidity, fruiting bodies form, usually in two or three rounds in succession.

Store powders in a closed jar, tinctures and oils in dark glass. Everything dry, dark and closed at room temperature. Ground powder loses its scent faster than whole pieces, because the surface area is larger.

We have a laboratory analysis made of every batch. There is a batch number on the packaging. Give us that number and we'll send the corresponding report.