The quality marker for hot water extracted Agaricus blazei Murrill (ABM) is beta-glucan. An ABM extract should always be based on the fruiting body of the mushroom.

The quality markers for Oriveda's CCCE® are beta-glucan, adenosine and cordycepin.
Different variations of beta-glucan (soluble, insoluble, structural) have been combined in this formula.

The source was the fruiting body, except for Tiger Milk, where the sclerotium was used.

The main quality markers for Chaga are beta-glucan, polyphenols (anti-oxidants) , sterols and triterpenes (i.p. betulinic acid).

A Chaga extract should ideally be dual extracted and based on the wild-harvested sclerotia of this mushroom. Never cultivated Chaga ! (which is beige instead of dark-brown/black).

The main quality markers for Cordyceps extracts are adenosine and cordycepin.

NOT 'cordycepic acid'! This is just a common type of sugar (aka D-Mannitol). It is found in many plants.

Beta-glucan is important, but it is not Cordyceps-specific and it is not responsible for the Cordyceps-specific properties.

The extract should be based on deep layer* cultivated mycelium (Cordyceps sinensis CS-4) and / or Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies.

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*"deep layer cultivated" means "cultivated in liquid" as opposed to rice/grains. Sometimes also called 'fermented mycelium'. The advantage is that there is no left-over substrate in the final product, it is pure mycelium, starch-free. This method is only used in Asia.

NOTE: within the EU Cordyceps militaris products are considered a novel food and cannot be sold.

The main quality marker for hot water extracted Maitake is beta-glucan.
Maitake contains a unique type of beta-glucan. In line with the research a Maitake extract should be based on the fruiting body of the mushroom.

Lion's Mane covers two therapeutic spectra.

• Hot water extracts are very useful for general health and the metabolic system. The main quality marker is beta-glucan and the extract should be based on the fruiting body.

1:1 hot water extracts are 100% bioavailable but unfiltered and will also contain the alcohol-soluble compounds, making them also relevant for basic nootropic use. The extract color is tan.

• Alcohol extracts are very useful for nootropic effects (slowing down the effects of age on cognition and improving the production of NGF / BDNF). The main quality markers are erinacines and hericenones (these compounds belong to the group of diterpenes) and polyphenols. The deep layer** cultivated mycelia are the main source of erinacines (mycelia contain 4 - 8 times more diterpenes than the fruiting body). An alcohol extract is almost black and smells like dark chocolate.

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**"deep layer cultivated" means "cultivated in liquid" as opposed to rice/grains. Sometimes also called 'fermented mycelium'. The advantage is that there is no left-over substrate in the final product, it is pure mycelium, starch-free. This method is only used in Asia.

NOTE: within the EU Lion's Mane mycelium products are considered a novel food and cannot be sold.

The quality marker for hot water extracted Turkey Tail is beta-glucan.

Turkey Tail contains two types of beta-glucan, which are in part linked to peptides to form glyco-proteins / proteoglycans. These are active compounds. To be in line with the clinical research a Turkey Tail extract should preferably be based on a specific deep layer* cultivated mycelium strain (COV-1)® of the mushroom. There's no need for dual extraction because research has never pointed out alcohol-soluble marker compounds.

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*"deep layer cultivated" means "cultivated in liquid" as opposed to rice/grains. Sometimes also called 'fermented mycelium'. The advantage is that there is no left-over substrate in the final product, it is pure mycelium, starch-free. This method is only used in Asia.

NOTE: within the EU all Turkey Tail products are considered a novel food and cannot be sold.

The quality markers for Reishi are beta-glucan and in particular ganoderic acids (a type of triterpenes). Reishi should always be dual extracted (otherwise no ganoderic acids will be present) and the extract should always be based on the fruiting body. The mycelium contains no ganoderic acids.
Reishi beta-glucan is in part linked to peptides to form glyco-proteins / proteoglycans. These are active compounds. There is no accepted way to measure these so we can't specify them.

Oriveda is currently the only vendor specifying the unique Reishi ganoderic acids, using an ISO 17025 accredited test method / laboratory to ensure the numbers are 100% accurate. We used to specify 'triterpenes' like everybody else, but we dropped this in 2021 in favor of the more accurate specification. The product itself has not changed.
Vendors specifying just 'triterpenes' rely on an inaccurate test method (HPLC/UV-VIS). UV-VIS testing will always return a way too high percentage; making it popular among vendors. The margin of error is ± 50-70% with this method. Our "≥ 6% triterpenes" turned out to be in fact ± 2%, which is 100% accurate. Something to keep in mind when you compare our specs to others.