Why Good Testing Methods are Crucial for High-Quality Mushroom Supplements

“Higher Standards for Medicinal Mushrooms”

That’s our tagline, and we stand behind it. But what does “higher standards” even mean?

We could easily point to our whole fruiting bodies grown on their native logs, our hot water and dual extraction methods, or our patented membrane separation technology. Still, those are only a few ways we keep our products top-of-the-line.

What truly proves high quality is testing! Evaluating the quality of medicinal mushrooms in the lab boils down to potency and contamination. However, the standard testing methods in our industry have severe limitations and cannot accurately validate the level of quality we demand.

So, we adopted new testing methods that reveal more than the standard testing protocols. These new methods provide new quality validation parameters that will pave the way to a more complete approach to mushroom quality, potency, and value. Our partner, Alita Bioscience, is developing novel approaches to further research and understand medicinal mushrooms and how they can benefit our health.

Like WholeSun Wellness, Alita Bioscience exclusively focuses on fungi. They are specialists like us, and we are confident that our combined efforts will change how manufacturers and consumers think about medicinal mushrooms.

Current Limitations of Industry-Standard Tests

Mushroom supplements are largely unregulated. Third-party agencies and governing bodies are primarily responsible for overseeing farming and processing practices. For example, a certified USDA Organic facility must meet specific requirements for pest control, radiation, and more.

It’s important to know that these third-party agencies do not dictate what makes a high-quality mushroom supplement. Manufacturers are responsible for setting their own standards and figuring out how to meet them.

Typically, raw mushroom material will undergo standard testing that reveals microbial levels, heavy metal levels, and pesticides. The material may also go through additional testing to determine polysaccharide levels.

However, standard testing protocols have massive limitations. WholeSun Wellness is pursuing much more than these standard practices!

Testing for Beta-Glucans

Beta-glucans make up to 50% of the mushroom cell wall and are heavily studied for their effects on the body. It makes sense that beta-glucans are a huge selling point for any mushroom supplement.

But, high beta-glucan levels do not necessarily mean a high-quality product. How can you tell?

• Standard testing confuses beta-glucans and alpha-glucans – Beta-glucans are often detected through a basic polysaccharide test that measures the presence of complex sugars. The standard test detected beta-glucans and alpha-glucans. Alpha-glucans are pure starch. They do not have therapeutic benefits. It is like eating rice, and who wants rice in a mushroom supplement?

• Artificial beta-glucans are required – Companies that rely on a standard polysaccharide test will add artificial beta-glucans to meet whatever is promised on the label (for example, 10% or 50 mg).

Even megazyme testing, which can separate beta-glucans from alpha-glucans, is not always 100% foolproof.

Testing for beta-glucans is an absolute must, but there are a lot of improvements to be made. We have teamed up with Alita Bioscience to develop more rigorous and accurate testing for beta-glucans and alpha-glucans along with dextrin, active compounds, and nutritional components.

Going Beyond Beta-Glucans™

Mushrooms are so much more than beta-glucans. Although beta-glucans carry various benefits, many more nutrients and active compounds can be extracted from mushroom whole fruiting bodies. Our patented extraction process, combined with careful farming and harvesting, enables us to provide nutritionally dense extracts and reflect the entire benefits of the mushrooms.

The other active compounds require additional research, but we believe they are vital in the overall experience of using mushroom supplements.

Active compounds that we measure and research:

Nutritional Profile

WholeSun Wellness has also developed a nutritional panel with Alita Bioscience.

We want to know the nutrients and minerals that are tested for in other food products. No one else is approaching mushrooms like the food we are.

Ground-Breaking Research

There’s still plenty to discover when it comes to mushrooms! We need more research to understand the impact and benefits of each active compound in mushrooms. That’s why WholeSun Wellness is actively funding research being done at Alita Bioscience. 

We are the first and only mushroom supplement company to put our money where our mouth is.

We want to understand mushrooms completely through laboratory and clinical research. We are confident this research will enable us to continue raising quality standards for ourselves and the industry. 

The more we can measure, the more we can understand. We can hold ourselves to higher quality standards with confidence.

WholeSun Wellness believes that by finding ways to measure active compounds and nutritional information in mushrooms, we will get a more complete picture of the benefits of mushroom supplements. And by pushing for innovation to current testing standards alongside Alita BioScience, we aim to change how medicinal mushrooms are cultivated, processed, and consumed.

Author: WholeSun Wellness