Lions’ mane capsules and powdered supplements. Why would a grower use the term “fermented biomass” or “traces of brown rice supplement”?
It’s much cheaper, and much less complicated, to simply produce “myciliated lions mane grain” or “mycelial biomass” without ever fruiting lions mane mushroom or simply adding biomass to the product.
Creating grain spawn is a relatively simple and quick process that can take a few weeks compared to fruiting body production, which can take a few months. Unlike grain spawn, mushrooms need grow rooms with controlled environmental conditions.
It requires 11/12 kilos of fresh lions’ mane mushroom fruiting body to produce 1 kilo of supplement, whereas one kilo of brown rice will produce 1 kilo of brown rice biomass. You can easily see the cost value of this to increase the volume of the supplement.
Although pure mycelium may have some functional benefits, these supplements contain high levels of starch from the grain in the final product.
Scientific research is based on the fruiting body, with fungal beta-glucans as the active component, not alpha-glucans or polysaccharides found in brown rice or other grains used.
Mycelium isn’t 100% efficient in breaking down the grain before it is processed into a supplement, which is why you may sometimes see a high “polysaccharide” content on the label. This is due to the alpha-glucan in the grain, not the beta-glucan from the lion’s mane mushroom.
Most scientific research on medicinal mushrooms is based on fungal beta-glucans as the active component, not alpha-glucans or polysaccharides.
The references used in Traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years overlook the fact that traditional Chinese medicine uses only the fruiting body, not the biomass.
Organic Farmacy mushroom supplements are made from mushrooms without traces of brown rice or other biomass. The whole fruiting body is grown, harvested, and then processed. Whole fruiting body supplements have high levels of active compounds present at significant levels.
Final thoughts:
Some liken the process of transforming milk into yogurt through fermentation to the process of producing lion’s mane grain spawn. While some compounds may be enhanced, it remains 100% dairy.
There is no fermentation process in creating lion’s mane grain spawn; it is the decaying process, and it remains decayed rice grain. Being brutally honest, lions’ mane or other medicinal mushrooms won’t produce a fruiting body on grain alone; they need hardwood substrate.
Is biomass good? Well, yes, most garden centers sell it. Our biomass is donated to local community gardens and farmers as compost. Branding and marketing will always try to muddy the waters in their favour.
We follow science-based research from institutes like QLD University and Harvard, as well as websites like Healthline, which are independent and provide unbiased views.
