Double extraction — why some mushrooms ask for water and alcohol together

The quiet kingdom — roots, polypores, mycelium. The resilience of the living, ready for every day.

A mushroom keeps its compounds in two places. In its cell walls, the beta-glucans, polysaccharides that dissolve in hot water. In its fatty structures, the triterpenes — reishi's ganoderic acids, chaga's betulin and betulinic acid — which only dissolve in alcohol.

A water decoction draws out the beta-glucans and leaves the triterpenes in the marc. An alcohol tincture does the opposite. Dual extraction brings the two passes together.

How a dual extraction is made

1. The decoction: the dried, ground mushroom simmers in water for a long time, around 70 to 80 °C, for several hours. It is strained and the liquid kept.
2. The maceration: the strained marc rests in alcohol for several weeks. It is strained again.
3. The union: the two liquids are combined. For a powdered extract, the whole is then dried.

The ratio, for example 15:1, tells how many parts of dried mushroom gave one part of extract.

Which of our mushrooms

• Reishi: 15:1 dual water and alcohol extract, fruiting body. Its triterpenes only pass into alcohol.
• Chaga: 8:1 dual water and alcohol extract. Betulin, which the mushroom takes from its birch, only passes into alcohol.
• Lion's mane: 8:1 fruiting-body extract, hot water only. The compounds we look for in the fruiting body dissolve in water.
• Cordyceps: 6:1 mycelium extract, made without alcohol, fully water-soluble.

For plants, roots, leaves or barks, the method depends on each plant; the idea of two solvents stays the same.

Precautions

A home-made tincture contains alcohol: avoid it if you do not drink alcohol, during pregnancy and for children.

Sources

• Christopher Hobbs, Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, and Culture, Botanica Press.
• Our suppliers' technical sheets: extraction method and ratio of the reishi, chaga, lion's mane and cordyceps extracts.