Nutritional Supplements

Our partner and supplier of raw materials:

The company Biofungi GmbH offers organic mushroom extracts and powders of the highest quality. We purchase these products exclusively from a bio-certified and family-owned company in China with 20 years of experience in mushroom cultivation and mushroom extraction. Our Chinese colleague on the spot, a trained biologist, takes care on our behalf of the quality assurance.
 

The Chinese production company itself is certified  HACCP, ISO 14001:2004, ISO 22000:2005 and ISO 9001:2008. Compliance with the organic regulations is guaranteed by the Swiss organic certifier IMO. The IMO is accredited to the EU.

Our products:

- Pure organic and conventional Mushroom Powders and Mushroom Extracts in bulk units of 1, 2 and 5kg.

- Vegetarian Capsules of Mushroom Extracts and Mushroom Powders in bulk units of 2000 pieces.  

- Capsules prepacked in PE bottles according to customer request.

Our customers:

As wholesaler, we are not serving orders below 500,00 Euros. We apologize for this. However if you want to obtain our products in lesser quantities you may contact us and we will forward your request to our distributors.

List of Products:
Reishi/ Ling Zhi     Ganoderma lucidum Extract 10+4%, Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Caterpillar Mushroom/  Cordyceps sinensis CS-4 strain          Extract 30% and Powder		Conventional
Maitake/Hen of Woods/  Grifola frondosa                                 Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Shiitake/ Lentinula edodes                           Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Pom Pom/Monkey Head/   Hericium erinaceus                 Extract 20% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Almond Mushroom/ Agaricus.blazei (brasiliensis)                                 Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Turkey Tail/ Coriolus versicolor                               Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Polypore Mushroom/ Polyporus umbellatus                                Extract 30% and Powder		Conventional
Jews Ear/ Auricularia judae                        Extract 25% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Ink Cap/  Coprinus comatus                        Extract 25% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Phellinus linteus                                Extract 25%		Organic/ Conventional
Cloud Mushroom/ Tremella fuciformis Extract 25%		Organic/ Conventional
Oyster Mushroom/ Pleurotus ostreatus Extract 30% and Powder		Organic
Button Mushroom/ Agaricus bisporus Extract 30% and Powder		Organic/ Conventional
Chaga/ Inonotus obliquus Extract 25% and powder		Organic/ Conventional
True Tinder Polypore/ Fomes fomentarius Extract 25%		Organic/ Conventional

Background information and interesting facts on Mushroom Extracts and Powders:

1) Mushrooms Powders versus Mushroom Extracts

The mushroom community is split in two parties- namely the Powder community and the Extract community- both of which claim to be selling the better. 

The fight is often fought with all means. In order to prove the respective point of view, wishful thinking and personal opinions are sometimes presented as facts and scientific findings. This muddle leaves many customers confused and insecure.

In the following we try to shed some light over these matters. We will try to maintain an objective and scientific view. We are not biased for commercial reasons as we sell both extracts and powders!

Mushroom powders

Plus:

• The complete roughage and all contents remain unchanged in the Mushroom Powder provided that the mushrooms are dried in the range of 50°C or lower.  

Minus:

• The pesticides remain in the original concentration as well. For this reason Mushroom Powders should be of certified organic quality.
• The recommended dosage of Mushroom Powders is 5-10g a day and more. A 0 size capsules can fill around 0,5g-which means swallowing 10-20 capsules a day. This is a very unrealistic proposition and a very expensive one as well! The cheapest way to take Mushroom Powders is to eat them by the spoonful or use them in cooked meals- however a not insignificant number of Mushroom Powders display a rather inferior taste.                     An alternative is the use of tablets which are cheaper to produce and contain up to 1,5g- however you should be aware that often 20-40% of the tablet weight are aid substances! 
• Many bioactive molecules such as the Beta-Glucans are incorporated in the chitinous mushroom cell wall matrix which is indigestible. Even though the Mushroom Powders seem to be very fine to the naked eye, in the world of molecules these Mushroom Powder particles are huge chunks with a surface and an interior. There remains an aspect of uncertainity about the percentage of bioactive molecules which can be solved out of the cell wall matrix by the digestive system.
• If you want to use Mushroom Powders make sure that they are produced from fruit bodies or pure Mycelium- some companies sell Mushroom Powder produced from grain substrate blocks. Such a Mushroom Powder contains 30-70% dried grain!
  
• Since most clinical studies employ Mushroom Extracts their benefits stand on a solid scientific base. This is not the case with Mushroom Powders.

Mushroom Extracts

Plus:

• The valuable contents of the cell wall matrix such as the Beta Glucans are concentrated manyfold in the extracts (4-15 timesas shown in table below !). Through the process of cooking the contents are solved out of the Cell wall matrix and become bioavailable.
• The pesticde load is reduced considerably through the process of extraction.For this reason and because the daily dosage of extracts is 4-15 fold lower than of powders the use of conventional Mushroom Extracts can be recommended besides the the organic extracts.
• Since most clinical studies used Mushroom Extracts and not Mushroom Powders the benefits of the Extracts but not of the Powders have been clinicaly proven.
• The traditional way of preparing mushrooms in TCM is to make a tea with them.
  

Minus:

• The complete roughage and some Vitamins and Minerals are lost in the process of extraction.   

Caution: Because of the extraction ratio Mushroom Powders ought to be considerably cheaper than Mushroom Extracts! This effect must show up to a lesser extend in capsules even though the price difference is smaller compared to bulk prices because the cost of encapsulation is the same for powders and extracts.

Table of the ratios of Mushroom Powders to Mushroom Extracts:

2) Polysaccharides and Beta-Glucans and how to test the quality of Mushroom  Extracts

The Beta-Glucans are a sub-group of the Polysaccharides. They are incorporated in the cell wall matrix and can be solved out of this matrix through cooking. 

The concentration of Mushroom Extracts is declared usually by the percentage of Polysaccharides contained. 

Therefore a Shiitke 30% extract contains 30% Polysaccharides or more. This looks like a good way to verify the quality of the Mushroom Extract since Polysaccharides can be analyzed easily. 

Unfortunately Mushroom Extracts can be adulterated by adding pure Polysaccharide substances - such as Amylum. 

The Polysaccharides contain water soluble and water insoluble Polysaccharides  

If the Mushrooms are extracted with enzymes instead of hot water then the water soluble plus the water insoluble Polysaccharides are extracted - which increases the profit of the producer since he gets out more extract quantity! The drawback is that the water insoluble Polysaccharides are of no value other than being roughage!

Testing at home:
A simple kitchen test enables you to  judge the quality of Mushroom Extracts in respect of the Polysaccharides belonging to the wanted group of water soluble ones or to the unwanted water insoluble ones.

Fill some hot water in a glas, add some of the esxtract to be tested and stir thoroughly. An unsoluble sediment shows you the presence of water insoluble Polysaccharides.

Test: A water soluble extract dissolves completely in hot water!

Scientific analytical methods:

Testing for Polysaccharides:   Sulfuric Acid Anthrone method

Testing for specific Beta-Glucans (such as Lentinan or Maitake D-fraction!):                        
HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography)

Testing for Beta-Glucans with specific linkages (1-3, 1-4, 1-6 linkages):                                       NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy)

Coclusion:Until now there is no laboratory known to me which offers a testing assay for the concentration of the specific Beta-Glucans of the branching type 1-4 and 1-6 in mushroom extracts. This means that there is no testing available to analyse the strength or quality of the extracts in terms of the percentage of the relevant Beta 1-4, 1-6 Glucans.

This breakes it down to a question of confidence and of personal experience with the administered extracts. If the consumer gains an advantage out of an Mushroom extract this is a good Mushroom Extract! 

If not it leaves 2 possibilities:
Eigther the quality of the used extract was not a good one or the comsumer used a good extract which did not show the desired effect because it was the wrong extract or because the consumer did not react to the mushroom Extract.

The importer himself has to make sure that he buys the best quality available by making sure through personal inspection or through inspection of the extracting factory by a trustee. The following issues can be verified by on spot inspections:

1) Quality of the raw material

2) Quality of the equipment

3) Extraction ratio

3) Addition of Vitamin C to Mushroom Extracts

For some msuhroom species such as Resihi and Maitake the addition of Vitamin C is recommended in the literature for the following reason:

The valuebale water solvent Beta-Glucans of 1-3, 1-6 linkage are very big molecules and it seems that Vitamin C facilitates the resorption of big molecules through the walls of the digestive system.

4) Reishi Spore Powder

Some companies praise the value of Reishi Spore Powder. We have no opinion or knowledge if this is justified. However if you buy Reishi Spore Powder you must make sure my Microscopie that the Spores have been broken in a mill (Broken Reishi Spore Powder!). Since the Reishi Spores are extremly hard shelled they are indigestible if whole and therefore of no value.

Caution: Many producers sell worthless whole Reishi Spore Mushroom Powder. 

5) Microbiology

Some companies handle and pack their extracts under conditions being far from hygienic. Such companies will be tempted to reduce a high germ load through Isotopic Irradiation. This method however is not allowed in many European countries and has to be declared on the label.

in general Mushroom Powders contain a higher germ load than Mushroom Extracts since the later benefit from a drastic reduction of the germ load through the very process of extraction. 

• Mushroom Extracts should display a germ load in the range of 10-100 total count.

• Mushroom Powders should display a germ load in the range of 1000-10000 total count.

A dry and cool strage prevents the total germ load from increasing. Therefore Mushroom Powders and Extracts must be kept closed airtight to prevent them from becoming moist - in which case the growth of Moulds and Bacterias is encouraged temperature dependent!

6) Storage conditions

Since Mushroom Extracts are spraydried they are hygrophilic and tend to draw moisture from the air. Thus they clog and shrink. For this reason extracts should not be left exposed to the air, in moist enviroments and bottles with capsules of Mushroom Extracts should be used within 3 months after opening. For the same reason we recommend bottles sizes which are consumed within 1 month.

A way out of this is the blistering of capsules with a humidity resistitant foil.

Remark: Adding 1% Silicium Dioxid (SiO2) helps avoiding the moisture problem in mushroom Extracts and prevents them from shrinking if they have become wet!

Remark: Maitake extracts are the most critical extracts in respect of moisture.

Rule: Keep Mushroom Extracts and Powders cool, dry and protected from sunlight.

7) List of possible frauds with Mushroom extracts

• Raw material consists of cheaper and less valuable species- such as Ganoderma applanatum  instead of Ganoderma lucidum.
• Instead of a water extraction an enzymatic fermentation is applied which results in a higher yield of inferior extracts.
• Extracts are adultered undelared by cheap substances such as Amylum.
• The Beta Glucan content can be raised by addition of cheap Beta Glucans from yeasts.

8) Reishi 10+4% extract and Reishi 30% extract

Only for the Reishi there are 2 different extracts available:

The 10+4% extract which is standardized to a content of > 10% Polysaccharides and > 4% Triterpenes. 

The 30% extract which is standardized to a content of > 30% Polysaccharides and >1% Triterpenes.

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