Popular question
Fruiting body, spore powder, extract: what’s the difference?
All called “lingzhi”, the materials used in research and products can be very different: the is the lingzhi we see; is the “seeds” released by mature lingzhi; the is lingzhi’s “roots”; and an is made by drawing out and concentrating components with water or alcohol, with water and alcohol extracts containing different components. Spores have a hard outer wall, and case reports show that intact spores can pass through the human digestive tract unchanged, which is why processing gets attention. When reading a study, check which material it used to know whether its findings apply to what you take.
This topic includes 4 studies and reports, each linked to its source.
Terms explained on this page (5)
- fruiting body
- The lingzhi you normally see: the “mushroom” part that grows above the surface.
- spore powder
- The extremely fine spores released by mature lingzhi, a bit like its “seeds”.
- mycelium
- The white, thread-like part of lingzhi that grows inside wood or the growing medium, a bit like its “roots”.
- extract
- A product made by drawing out and concentrating lingzhi’s components with water or alcohol. Different extraction methods yield different components.
- wall-broken
- Physically cracking the hard outer wall of the spores so that what is inside can be released more easily.