Reishi Mushroom Extract

Reishi extract is produced from the fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst., a woody polypore of the family Ganodermataceae. Buyers should know the taxonomy before they write a specification: molecular work from 2009 onward showed that G. lucidum in the strict sense is largely a European species and that the name had been applied loosely to Asian collections, and the East Asian cultivated lingzhi was formally described in 2012 as Ganoderma lingzhi Sheng H. Wu, Y. Cao & Y.C. Dai, with a parallel argument for the older name G. sichuanense. The trade still ships and labels under Ganoderma lucidum, so Thovek keeps that name on the specification and states the actual cultivated strain lineage, with ITS sequence identity, on request. Two independent chemical families carry the commercial specification. The first is the water-soluble polysaccharide fraction, dominated by beta-(1,3)-D-glucans with beta-(1,6) branch points. The second is the lanostane triterpenoid fraction, the ganoderic and lucidenic acids, for which the usual reference compound is ganoderic acid A, C30H44O7, MW 516.67, CAS 81907-62-2. How those numbers are measured decides whether they mean anything. A 'polysaccharide' figure by the phenol-sulphuric UV method counts alpha-glucan as readily as beta-glucan, so mycelium grown on a cereal grain substrate can be assayed at an impressive polysaccharide percentage that is mostly residual starch from the grain. The defensible number is beta-glucan by the enzymatic yeast-and-mushroom kit method in the AOAC 995.16 lineage, which adds amyloglucosidase and invertase steps so that alpha-glucan, free glucose and sucrose-derived glucose are measured and subtracted. Thovek supplies fruiting-body extract as standard and will state both figures; mycelium-on-grain biomass and cracked-wall spore powder are different articles and are only supplied when a buyer asks for them in writing. Triterpene content is reported by UV colourimetry and, where the buyer wants a named compound, by HPLC against ganoderic acid A. Because the polysaccharides are water-extractable and the triterpenes are not, a dual extraction on hot water followed by food-grade ethanol is required for any grade that has to carry both fractions. The extract is vegan and vegetarian. It is fungal in origin, not plant, and not bovine, porcine or marine, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean or nut input at any stage. The gluten position deserves an explicit line on the buyer's specification: fruiting-body extract is gluten-free, but mycelium grown on a wheat, barley or rye substrate carries residual cereal into the finished powder and is a gluten declaration the buyer would have to make, which is one practical reason Thovek defaults to fruiting body. Ganoderma is a known accumulator of metals from its growing substrate, so heavy metals are assayed on every lot rather than certified from a periodic study. The powder is bitter, from the triterpenes, and hygroscopic, and should be held cool, dry and sealed. Thovek publishes composition and food-technology data only; wording such as 'immunity' or 'adaptogen' is a marketing category, not an approved claim, and any nutrition or health claim on the finished pack is the brand owner's responsibility under the rules of the destination market.