It’s no secret that mushrooms are one of the world’s most potent and wholesome foods. Mushrooms, which are abundant in naturally occurring chemicals and have a number of health benefits, are becoming an increasingly popular food and supplement.

Mushroom extract, which is the main component of these supplements, enables them to deliver a concentrated amount of those bioactive substances. See what makes mushroom extracts unique and how they are created by reading on.

 

What Are Extracts from Mushrooms?

You can utilize extracts as a tincture or as a powder. The mycelium, fruiting bodies, or complete plants of mushrooms are used to create mushroom extracts.

It is intended to deliver more advantages in a tiny, concentrated supplemental dose than you would normally get from taking a typical plate of whole mushrooms.

This enables you to consume a greater quantity of the beneficial bioactive components contained in mushrooms. Any mushroom can be used to make a mushroom extract. Our collection of mushroom gummies is produced by Safer Products using extracts from various mushroom species.

 

The Function of Mushroom Extracts

The variety of bioactive chemicals found in mushrooms are the source of numerous special health advantages. They consist of proteins, fatty acids, polysaccharides, triterpenoids, nucleotides, sterols, steroids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The easiest way to provide a high dose of these chemicals in a small serving size is to make mushroom extract for use in supplements.

 

The following list includes some of the most thoroughly investigated bioactive substances found in specific functional mushrooms:

Cordycepin: Has the ability to help support cellular health.[1][2]

Ergosterol: Supports cellular health and normal inflammatory response.[3][4]

Adenosine: May help support heart health, energy production, and normal metabolism.[5]

Linoleic, Oleic, and Palmitic Acids: Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, respectively, which support normal cellular functions, and heart and brain health.

Lovastatin: This may help support circulation and heart health.[6]

Beta-glucans: A polysaccharide and soluble fiber that helps support heart health and normal blood sugar.[7][8]

 

The chitin-rich cell wall of the fungus is what makes it ideal to use mushroom extracts rather than whole mushrooms. The hard outer shells of crustaceans are constructed using the same material.

Most of the chitin in mushrooms cannot be broken down by the human body’s chitinase enzyme. When we eat mushrooms, the majority of the fiber is insoluble. Although this is good for our digestive system, it also keeps us from obtaining many of the other fungi-based bioactive substances. We have greater access to these substances thanks to mushroom extracts.

 

Making of Mushroom Extracts

Making mushroom extracts involves drying whole or partial mushrooms, followed by crushing them into a fine powder. The advantageous components are then extracted and made available by cooking the powder in a liquid.

The first step is to completely clean and separate the mushroom bodies from their stems. The fruit must next be dissolved in a solvent in order to extract the chemicals. There are two common methods for dissolving them. They include doing a dual extract procedure with either hot water, alcohol, or both at once.

Beta-glucan polysaccharides and other water-soluble substances are easier to extract from raw mushroom material using hot water solvent. You can drink the finished liquid or let it evaporate to get the powdered extract.

A solvent other than water, such as alcohol, is thus required if non-water-soluble chemicals are also wanted from specific mushrooms. The remaining sediments from the earlier hot water extraction can be boiled after being treated with an alcohol and water mixture to achieve this. The liquid is then separated from the sediments and added to the hot water extract liquid that is still left over.

For mushrooms that contain exceptional non-water-soluble chemicals, such the triterpenes found in Reishi mushrooms, the dual extract method is advised. However, the majority of the bioactive substances in other useful mushrooms, including cordyceps and lion’s mane, are water-soluble, making the hot water approach the only way to extract them.

 

Article Overview:

The beneficial bioactive components present in mushrooms are concentrated in mushroom extracts.

Several components of the mushrooms can be used to create extracts. Depending on the species and portion of the mushroom it is obtained from, the extract’s bioactive components will change.

There are various extraction techniques, but they often use hot water and a solvent.

Find potent mushroom extracts in our Safer Multi Mushroom gummy formula.

 

References:

Verma AK. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2022;40(8):3745-3752. doi:10.1080/07391102.2020.1850352

Sitkoff, A. Editor(s): Joseph E. Pizzorno, Michael T. Murray. Textbook of Natural Medicine (Fifth Edition), Churchill Livingstone, 2020: 679-692.e6. ISBN 9780323523424. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-43044-9.00090-X.

Merdivan S, Lindequist U. Int J Med Mushrooms. 2017;19(2):93-105. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushrooms.v19.i2.10

Kobori M, Yoshida M, Ohnishi-Kameyama M, Shinmoto H. Br J Pharmacol. 2007;150(2):209-219. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706972

Singh S, McKintosh R. Adenosine. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; September 10, 2022.

Tsiantas K, Tsiaka T, Koutrotsios G, et al. Molecules. 2021;26(7):1832. Published 2021 March 24. doi:10.3390/molecules26071832

Khan K, Jovanovski E, Ho HVT, et al. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2018;28(1):3-13. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2017.09.007

Pino J, Mujika V, Arredondo M. J Funct Foods. 2021;77:104311.