We’ve talked before about the importance of buying high quality medicinal mushrooms and how to recognize them. A big part of that is finding a trustworthy medicinal mushroom supplier that sells premium quality raw materials. This ensures that you, in turn, can sell premium quality medicinal mushroom products to your customers.

But how do you make sure you have found a great supplier? By asking them a few specific questions about how they produce their mushrooms.

In this article, we’ll go through the questions you want your potential supplier to be able to answer, and the types of answers you want to see. And, of course, we provide our own answers.

Question 1: What substrate is used to grow the mushrooms?

Why you should ask this question:

The quality of a mushroom is determined at the farm. The choice of a substrate is crucial as it affects the nutritional profile and potency of the mushrooms.

Different medicinal mushrooms grow on various surfaces in nature, from ground to wood. The substrate should mimic this natural habitat of the mushroom as much as possible while giving the mushroom all the nutrients it needs to develop all its important ingredients.

Medicinal mushrooms are typically grown on wood-based substrates or grains, and each can yield different levels of active compounds.

Wood-based substrates often result in higher levels of active ingredients compared to grain-based ones. Hardwood sawdust is one of the best substrates for growing medicinal mushrooms. But make note: softwood shouldn’t be used for medicinal mushroom cultivation.

What kind of substrates do we use?

We try to mimic the natural growing conditions of the mushrooms as much as possible. That’s why we harvest chaga, tinder fungus, turkey tail, and polyporus directly from the trees they grow on.

Reishi is such a popular mushroom that although it also grows on trees, we’ve decided to grow it ourselves on oak. In general we use a lot of wood-based materials, such as hardwood sawdust mix of oak, birch, maple and poplar.

To the sawdust mix we usually add organic wheat and/or rice bran to give the mushroom some additional nutrients and ensure good growth.

We also add some cane sugar and natural gypsum to the substrate mixes for some extra energy and nutrients and structure improvement.

Cordyceps is grown a bit differently. We use a liquid mix of cane sugar, yellow bean powder, glucose and peptones in which the Cordyceps mycelium is grown.

Do you want to learn more about the individual substrates we use for each mushrooms? Check out this PDF.

Question 2: Are you using the fruiting body or mycelium, and why?

Why you should ask this question

The choice of which part of the mushroom to use has a major impact on the composition and amount of active ingredients.

The fruiting body (the part that grows above ground) and the mycelium (the underground root network) have different concentrations of bioactive compounds.

Fruiting bodies have typically more polysaccharides and beta-glucans than mycelium. However, mycelium might have a bigger concentration of other key ingredients such as lovastatin, ergosterol and vitamin D.

Using mycelium is not bad in itself. But it can result in a less potent product, and it might be more difficult to sell.

For example, if starch is used as the main growth material, the mycelium may contain a lot of starch-based polysaccharides and less fungus-specific polysaccharides.

Mycelium is a very dense network of roots that wraps tightly around whatever it is growing on. So it’s pretty impossible to completely separate it from whatever it’s growing on without getting it into the final product.

Remember to ask for details about why your supplier chose a particular part of the mushroom and how they ensure that no growing material or non-mushroom-based ingredients end up in the final product.

Also note that in many countries where medicinal mushrooms are sold, products made with mycelium may require special approval processes (EU) or labeling (US) before they can be sold.

Which part of the mushroom do we use?

We use only the fruiting body in our medicinal mushroom raw materials. Cordyceps is an exception to the rule as using its fruiting body would be way too expensive.

Question 3: How long do the mushrooms grow before they are harvested?

Why you should ask this question

It takes time for the mushrooms to fully develop their important compounds, especially in the fruiting body. Harvesting them too early may result in lower concentrations of these beneficial compounds.

Ask your supplier how long they allow their mushrooms to grow. Also ask about specific types of mushrooms, as the time to full ripeness varies. Maitake is ready for harvest in around three months, shiitake in about five months, but reishi can take up to 8 months.

How long do we grow our mushrooms?

We let our mushrooms grow for as long as they need. We rely on the expertise of our Chinese partner farmers, who know exactly how long each type of mushroom needs to mature. You can learn more about our cultivation methods from here.

Question 4: What is the mushroom growing environment like?

Why you should ask this question

Mushrooms should be grown in a controlled environment. This can reduce the risk of contamination and ensure consistent quality. Factors such as temperature, humidity, light exposure and air quality need to be carefully monitored.

Each mushroom may require a slightly different climate to reach its full potential. Proper controls must also be in place throughout the growing cycle to ensure that mold, bacteria and other contaminants do not enter the final product.

How does it look like on our mushroom farms?

We, or rather our Chinese farmers, grow our mushrooms in the pristine natural areas of the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

Don’t believe people who say that mushrooms grown in China are automatically of poor quality. Our farms are located far away from industrial areas and other sources of pollution, where the air and water are clean.

For the mushrooms we don’t collect from nature, we place the inoculated growing cultures on long wooden shelves in greenhouses. The sunlight, air circulation and temperature are all regulated to ensure an optimal growing environment.

Below is a selection of pictures from our farms.

Question 5: Are the mushrooms grown organically?

Why you should ask this question

Mushrooms absorb everything from their environment. This includes any toxins and other impurities if they happen to be present. So it’s crucial that mushrooms are grown in clean, pesticide-free conditions.

Organic farming ensures that no chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers are used. The supplier needs to provide you with proof of organic farming from the authorities of their country of origin who is responsible for issuing such certificates. So for example a company coming from Europe and growing their mushrooms in China needs to ensure that the Chinese farms meet the organic standards of their home country and the EU.

Do we grow our mushrooms organically?

Yes, we do. We offer all of our mushrooms and dosage forms (extracts, capsules and powders) in organic quality. Our bio certificate from a German authority is DE-ÖKO-003.

Question 6: What methods do you use to prevent or control contamination?

Why you should ask this question

This is pretty obvious. As explained previously, mushrooms absorb everything from their environment. They are sensitive to environmental contamination from toxins and heavy metals, which can affect the safety and quality of the final product.

Mushroom suppliers should have clear protocols in place to prevent mold, bacteria, and other contaminants from entering the mushrooms. Methods may include sterilizing substrates, maintaining clean facilities, and analyzing raw materials immediately after harvest.

Suppliers must also conduct regular testing for heavy metals and other potential contaminants to ensure their prevention methods are working. They should be willing to provide you with the results of these tests, preferably automatically with each batch.

How do we ensure the purity of our mushrooms

We conduct continuous quality controls throughout the entire lifecycle of our raw materials, from cultivation to shipping.

All the selected substrates are first heat sterilized and then hand-packed into a protective casing to avoid any unwanted substances entering the growing material. We also work in a highly sterilized environment when injecting the substrate with the mycelium culture.

Our mushroom fruiting bodies are analyzed directly after they’ve been harvested, and only those who are of pristine quality are processed further. Every single process step from drying to analysis and testing is done in a GMP certified manner. An independent laboratory Agrolab tests each batch for over 250 parameters, such as radioactivity and heavy metals.

Question 7: What drying methods are used after the harvest?

Why you should ask this question

The drying method can affect the efficacy and quality of the final mushroom product. Heat can degrade certain mushroom compounds, and certain mushroom species are more sensitive to heat than others. Therefore, it’s important to choose the right method and temperature.

The supplier should prefer low temperature drying methods, such as air or freeze drying, as these can help preserve important compounds such as polysaccharides and triterpenoids.

How do we dry our mushrooms?

We dry our mushrooms depending on the mushroom type and their consistency. We use either sun drying or milder heat in traditional drying plants for more sensitive mushrooms.

Question 8: How do you test the amount of active compounds like polysaccharides and beta-glucans?

Why you should ask this

This is also rather self-explanatory. You should be able to know exactly how much of the important ingredients, mostly polysaccharides and beta-glucans, the mushroom raw materials contain. The amount should also remain constant between different order batches.

The supplier should conduct regular, independent lab testing for the important ingredients provide certificates of analysis (COAs) upon request.

However, we are not a big fan of showing the amount of beta-glucans in the mushroom raw materials. Let us explain why.

How we analyze our medicinal mushrooms

Once the raw materials arrive at our warehouse in Austria, samples of each batch are sent to Dronania Pharmaceuticals for testing.

All of our medicinal mushroom raw materials are subjected to a proprietary SEC (Size Exclusion Chromatography) analysis before being sent for final production. This method of analysis identifies the mushroom species in question and the amount of polysaccharides it contains. This allows us to guarantee that a reishi extract is a reishi extract and always contains 30% polysaccharides.

We only give the beta-glucan values for our special extracts. A testing method that can 100% truthfully analyze the amount of beta-glucans in mushrooms doesn’t exist. We use the most reliable method available, but even that is probably not 100% accurate.

You can read more about why we think the importance of the amount of beta-glucans in medicinal mushrooms is overblown and why most beta-glucan values given for medicinal mushrooms are false.

Question 9: What traceability systems do you have in place?

Why you should ask this

Traceability ensures that each batch of mushrooms can be traced back to its origin, providing transparency and accountability. Trustworthy suppliers should have clear tracking and batch labeling to trace each product back to its growing conditions, substrate, and handling.

What kind of tracking system we use

At the beginning of the production process, each product batch is assigned a unique number. This batch number is printed on each product that we ship to our customers.

We also keep a sample of each batch. This allows us to analyze a potential problem with a product even years after we’ve shipped it.

We also carefully document every step of the manufacturing process. From weighing the raw materials to shipping them, who was responsible for each step, when it was done, and how it was done is all documented. The documents are kept in two different storage facilities and are available upon request.

End notes

Most of these questions should be found on the suppliers’ websites or social media sites, as a proof that they are transparent in their actions. The suppliers should be able to give you answers to the rest of the questions via email or phone.

Growing medicinal mushrooms is not rocket science so there shouldn’t be much that the supplier would like to keep completely secret for competitive reasons.

Remember, if the supplier seems very secretive or you have a feeling that they aren’t telling everything, continue with your search. There are plenty of suppliers that can provide you with good answers.