Our Difference
WholeSun Wellness is dedicated to bringing higher standards to the medicinal mushroom industry by exceeding every typical practice of sourcing, growing, harvesting, extraction, potency, testing, and certifications.
Sourcing
WholeSun Wellness
Independent Small Farmers
We are proud to build direct relationships with our suppliers. Our founder, Jme Bonfiglio, has nurtured direct and exclusive relationships with farms around the globe. She has also built farms in the US to create a vertically integrated production chain.
other companies
Corporate agriculture
Middle-man suppliers purchase bulk mushroom material from large farms and sell them to supplement companies. Those companies never see the entire supply chain and cannot offer complete transparency for their products.
Maitake grown on our partner farm
Growing
WholeSun Wellness
fruiting bodies grown as nature intended
Mushrooms feed by absorbing nutrients from decaying organic matter and do best when growing on their preferred native log. That’s why our mushrooms grow on wood and never on rice, oats, or other grains.
Mycelium grown in a liquid culture
Our pure mycelium is grown in a sterilized liquid culture medium rich in carbon, nitrogen, and minerals. The mycelium only absorbs rich nutrients and naturally creates high levels of active compounds.
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fruiting bodies grown on grain
Fruiting bodies can also grow on grains like rice and oats. But fruiting bodies grown on grain do not have the same active compound levels as those grown on their preferred native log. Instead, they soak up starchy alpha-glucans.
mycelium grown on grain in a lab
Many companies use Mycelium On Grain (MOG) products, which contain low levels of beta-glucans and other active compounds and high levels of starchy alpha-glucans.
To compensate, MOG products often contain synthetic beta-glucans.
Reishi grown on our partner farm
Harvesting
WholeSun Wellness
HARVESTED AFTER A FULL LIFE CYCLE
Each mushroom is hand harvested after a complete life cycle (up to 12 months) when the medicinal compounds are at their highest concentration.
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HARVESTED AFTER A FEW MONTHS
The mycelium and its substrate are freeze-dried or powdered once the mycelium is completely grown (2-4 months typically) and before fruiting bodies grow.
Shiitake grown on our partner farm
Extraction
WholeSun Wellness
hot water and dual extraction
Our mushroom fruiting bodies go through hot water or dual extraction. The process cracks the fungal cell walls and releases the concentrated beta-glucans and other medicinal compounds.
Our pure mycelium is extracted through liquid fermentation.
other companies
No extraction performed
MOG products described as “mycelial biomass powder” or “dried myceliated brown rice” simply cannot be extracted. There are no actual mushrooms in MOG, so the extraction process serves no purpose.
Dried mushroom powders do not go through extraction either. They are ground-up fruiting bodies, and no heat is applied.
Lion’s Mane grown on our partner farm
potency
WholeSun Wellness
naturally high concentration
Our patented extraction process, combined with careful farming and harvesting, enables us to provide nutritionally dense extracts and reflect the whole benefits of the mushrooms.
We also use specific genetic strains of each mushroom species to further guarantee a naturally high concentration of active compounds.
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Synthetic Concentration
Other companies may add synthetic polysaccharides to boost the amount of beta-glucans in their final product artificially.
Cordyceps grown on our partner farm
We go beyond beta-glucans™
More active compounds
Whole mushrooms and pure mycelium are organically complex! They are chock full of nutrients – vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, phytochemicals and more. Beta-glucans, the most well-known therapeutic compound in mushrooms, are just a small part of what makes mushrooms so beneficial. Other active compounds also play crucial roles in supporting whole-body wellness.
We guarantee 35% or more beta-glucans and 15% or more total active compounds in every product.
Beware of Dextrin!
Many other companies that offer mushroom fruiting body extracts add dextrin (i.e., maltodextrin). The dextrin creates more bulk as a filler and speeds up the spray drying process. WholeSun Wellness and our partner lab Alita Bioscience are the first to develop a test that shows how much dextrin is in a product. Other companies’ products contain 40-60% dextrin!
We don’t use additives and never use fillers, excipients, or artificial compounds. It’s why we guarantee that our products are 100% mushrooms. Its why we guarantee that our products are 100% mushrooms.
Reishi grown on our partner farm
Testing
WholeSun Wellness
new premium testing standards
With no formal industry standards for premium quality mushrooms in place, we have developed our own. Our partnership with Alita Bioscience allows us to test and research protocols for beta-glucans, active compounds, alpha-glucans, DNA verification, additives, dextrin, and nutritional profile.
We also ensure purity by rigorously testing for heavy metals, pesticides, ergosterols, and complete microbial testing for bacteria, yeast, E. coli, mold, and coliforms.
other companies
minimum standard testing
Other companies perform only standard testing for microbes and pesticide contamination. Standard testing measures for beta-glucans don’t show what types of polysaccharides are in a product and whether or not they are medicinal or just fillers. These companies cannot guarantee transparency for their products.
Maitake grown on our partner farm
Certifications
WholeSun Wellness
Domestic & International Recognition
Our medicinal mushrooms are grown, processed, and packaged in facilities that are certified USDA Organic, Certified ECOCERT Organic, Certified Non-GMO, Certified Gluten-Free, Certified Vegan, and LEED Green Buildings. All of our products are processed in a FDA-registered and GMP-compliant facility.
Utah department of Agriculture and Food
Our mushroom products are certified USDA Organic through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF).
- Stricter requirements than third-party certifications
- Meets the verification requirements for non-GMO and Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status
- Directly certifies WholeSun Wellness as a Natural Organic Program (NOP) processor, handler, manufacturer, and grower
other companies
only domestic certifications
Since our products are certified organic by Kiwa BCS Öko-Garantie GmbH (Germany), ECOCERT (France), and EU-ECO-Regulation (all EU countries), customers around the world know they are getting only the best. Other companies do not have this international certification and are limited to selling their products as organic in the US.