There are a lot of mushrooms on the market right now! You may have heard the discussion about different types of products and what makes a mushroom product high quality. You may have heard about the mushroom fruiting body and mycelium.
Confusing? We'll clear up the concepts and tell you about a simple test you can do at home to test your Chaga, Reishi and Lion's Mane mushroom products.
Beta-glucans, terpenes and starch
The mushroom contains several active substances. The substances we primarily want to eat are fibers and terpenes. Among the fibers are beta-glucans. Terpenes are in the form of diterpenes, antioxidants, and more.
But mushrooms also contain starch. A good mushroom product contains a maximum of 5% starch. The more starch, the less other active substances.
Fungal Body vs Mycelium
Mushroom products can be produced in different ways. One way is to make the product, such as a tincture, from the mushroom body. A mushroom body is what you see in nature, it is the mushroom itself that you pick.
But you can also make the product using mushroom mycelium. It is a sustainable and smart way to produce mushroom products. The disadvantage is that it can create a product with a high starch content. One reason is that the mycelium may have grown on crops and this increases the starch content. You don't want a mushroom product with a high starch content, but you want the active substances mentioned above. Fibers in the form of beta-glucans and terpenes.
When some tests have been done on mushroom products on the market, it has been shown that it is as much as 70% starch and 0% beta-glucans. Another reason why the starch content is high is due to additives in the mushroom product, especially in mushroom in powder form.
Do the Iodine test at home
Luckily, you can do a simple test at home to see if the product contains too much starch. All you need is the mushroom product, water, and liquid iodine.
1. Do this: Fill a glass a quarter full with water and add 20 drops of tincture. The color should now be light brown. Then add 10 drops of iodine. Stir.
2. You can also do the same with powder. Take 1g of mushroom powder or a couple of capsules that you open and stir into 3 tablespoons of warm water. Pay attention to the color of the mixture! Add 10 drops of iodine and stir.
3. Wait a while and see if the color changes. If the mixture changes color and becomes darker towards the blue-purple side, then there is a lot of starch in the product. Especially if the mixture remains towards the blue side.
If the color remains in the brown, light brown range with at most a slight hint of blue, you know you have a good mushroom product.
Unfortunately, I do not have access to other mushroom products that could contain a high level of starch, but I am borrowing these good pictures that illustrate before and after iodine has been added (pictures from Real Mushrooms).
