Test your fungus at home | Use the Iodine test
There's a lot of mushroom on the market right now! You might have heard the discussion about different types of products and what makes a mushroom product high-quality. You might have heard about the mushroom's fruiting body and mycelium.
Confusing? We'll clarify the concepts and tell you about a simple test you can do at home to test your mushroom products of Chaga, Reishi, and Lion's Mane.
Beta-glucans, terpenes, and starch
Mushrooms contain several active compounds. The compounds we primarily want are fibers and terpenes. Among the fibers, beta-glucans can be mentioned. 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 fewer other active compounds.
Fruiting Body vs. Mycelium
Mushroom products are produced in different ways. Either the fruiting body or mycelium is used. A fruiting body is what you see in nature, it's the mushroom itself that you pick.
But you can also make the product using mushroom mycelium. This 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, which increases the starch content. You don't want a mushroom product with a high starch content; instead, you want the active compounds mentioned above. Fibers in the form of beta-glucans and terpenes.
When certain tests of mushroom products on the market have been conducted, it has been shown that there can be as much as 70% starch and 0% beta-glucans. Another reason for the high starch content is due to additives in the mushroom product, especially in mushroom in powder form.
Do the Iodine Test at Home
Fortunately, 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. How to do it: 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. Note the color of the mixture! Add 10 drops of iodine and stir.
3. Wait a moment and see if the color changes. If the mixture changes color and becomes darker towards blue-purple, then there is a lot of starch in the product. Especially if the mixture remains bluish.
If the color remains brownish, light brown, with at most a slight hint of blue, then you know you have a good mushroom product.
Unfortunately, I don't have access to other mushroom products that might contain a high starch content, but I'm borrowing these good images that illustrate before and after iodine has been added (images from Real Mushrooms).
