Full-Spectrum Chemistries
There is a lot of confusion today in the field of pharmaceutical mushrooms as to what form of mushroom product is the best for use. There are various components of the mushroom, which have been used as separated compounds. Is it the fruit-body, the mycelium or an extract standardized from some particular compound, which is responsible for the mushroom’s properties? This question is not as straightforward as it seems.
- Fruit body. This is the mushroom seen above the ground. It is the spore- producing portion involved with reproduction. Basically, the fruit body is equivalent to the flower of a plant. Fruit bodies only form in response to some stress from the environment.
- Mycelium. This is the growth form of the organism under the ground where all of the life processes occur: growth, feeding, competing for survival and some forms of reproduction.
- Broth. In cultivated mushroom products, the mycelium can be grown either by fermentation, in a tank full of liquid “broth”, or on a solid substrate of some material that is found in the natural growth condition.
For the production of many mushroom-derived drugs and health supplements, the compounds are extracted not from the mycelium but from the broth in which the mycelium is grown.
As an example, there are a number of pharmaceutical drugs produced from the Shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes): lentinan from the fruit body; LEM from the mycelium; and KS-2 from the residual culture broth, an extracellular compound.
To extract lentinan from Shiitake mushrooms is a pretty straightforward chemical process. But what about another compound present in Shiitake, called eritadenine?
This compound is useful in the treatment of high cholesterol levels, while lentinan is used for the treatment of cancer.
So, what is the more valuable product: the raw, full-spectrum Shiitake or the standardized extract? The answer is neither, or both. It depends on what is hoped to be achieved with the supplement.
For general health-supplement usage, the best product is the one that has the greatest effectiveness over a broad range of potential conditions. In this example, it makes much more sense to use a full spectrum of products—the fruit body, mycelium and broth.
Research has shown that mixed chemistries play a more important role in the effectiveness of how unrelated chemistries might produce specific results. It is a complex form that is still not completely understood but produces clinical results not available with standardized extracts.
Most pharmaceutical mushrooms are utilized as extracts for their most potent and most successful products and formulas. But these are very specific and targeted extracts, made for the particular purpose of concentrating specific compounds.
There are two general categories of bioactive compounds found in pharmaceutical mushrooms:
- The polysaccharides, which comprise most of the medicinal compounds, are soluble in hot water and not in alcohol. The immunostimulant type of action so well known in mushrooms is from this class of compounds. When looking for immunomodulation action, it is advisable to not use alcohol extracts as they will not be effective.
- The nucleosides, another class of compounds, are soluble in non-polar solvents like alcohol and hexane. These compounds are usually smaller in molecular size and are more specific in their bioactivity compared with polysaccharides.
