Guest guest Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I just decanted a water extract that was in storage for 3 years. I know the properties of water v alcohol extracted ling zhi were discussed jpreviously on this forum, but I cannot find info on the CHA site. Does it make a difference that I did not use hot water? Very bitter! -p Pamela Zilavy, L.Ac. chexin http://www.change-exchange-interchange.com 415) 279-8376 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Ling zhi (hong) is supposed to be very very bitter. The black ganoderma is less so, but also is less effective against cancer. I use it for more general deep immunological and adaptogenic applications, and the red form for more serious problems. Compliance can be an issue because of taste. When you say a water extract, I assume that you also have 25% alcohol to preserve it? Alcohol will not extract medicinal mushrooms (except maitaki/grifola) because the chitin in the mushrooms locks up the constituents. They are also inert if you eat them- so shitaki mushrooms don't have the medicinal effects in stir fry and dried mushrooms cannot be ground into capsules. You need to grind the ling zhi then decoct it for a long time at very low heat- say 110 degrees from one to three days, before preserving it with alcohol. The window for alcohol is small -24-27% because you want it low enough to preserve the polysaccharides and high enough to preserve it. If you get scum on the glass, the alcohol is likely too high and the polysaccharides are substantially inert. Because there are also sesquiterpenes which do extract only in high alcohol, I do make an extract from the marc, and use that for my preservative alcohol. However the active principle that fits most Chinese medicine is made from a long term water decoction. Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac., MSTOM Licensed Acupuncturist, and Herbalist Creationsgarden1 253 Garfield Place Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 622-6755 ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Karen, Thank you for all this information. So, what about eating shiitake powder--that is, powder made from ground dried shiitakes? Are you obtaining the medicinal constituents if you put it in a soup? Would you need to decoct it a long time? There's an outfit that sells ground shiitake so I was thinking it might be a way to get some of the medicinal benefits while enjoying the taste. And why can't dried mushrooms be ground into capsules? Marian > Alcohol will not extract medicinal mushrooms (except maitaki/grifola) > because the chitin in the mushrooms locks up the constituents. They are also > inert if you eat them- so shitaki mushrooms don't have the medicinal effects in > stir fry and dried mushrooms cannot be ground into capsules. You need to grind > the ling zhi then decoct it for a long time at very low heat- say 110 > degrees from one to three days, before preserving it with alcohol. The window for > alcohol is small -24-27% because you want it low enough to preserve the > polysaccharides and high enough to preserve it. If you get scum on the glass, the > alcohol is likely too high and the polysaccharides are substantially inert. > > Because there are also sesquiterpenes which do extract only in high alcohol, > I do make an extract from the marc, and use that for my preservative > alcohol. However the active principle that fits most Chinese medicine is made from > a long term water decoction. > > > Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac., MSTOM > Licensed Acupuncturist, and Herbalist > Creationsgarden1 > 253 Garfield Place > Brooklyn, NY 11215 > > (718) 622-6755 > > > > ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Marian, Of the medicinal mushrooms, only maitaki (grifola) has useful constituents that come out by eating. Mushrooms are made of chitin, like lobster shells, and the chitin locks up the useful polysaccharides that come out in a long, low-cooked soup. For shitakis, cooking for an hour at low heat should do the trick. Powdering shitakis wouldn't help, but you could use a powdered extract. You could make a powdered extract yourself as Chris Hobbs describes by cooking down a soup to a sludge and drying it on the fruit leather trays of an extractor. He tends to just use the mushroom leather rather than to powder it- it is portable. Or he has used dried eluthero in lieu of starch for the medium and ground it up. -- Karen Vaughan, MSTOM Licensed Acupuncturist, and Herbalist 253 Garfield Place Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 622-6755 Co-Conspirator to Make the World A Better Place: Visit http://www.heroicstories.com/ and join the conspiracy See my Acupuncture and Herbalism website at:http://www.byregion.net/profiles/ksvaughan2.html " When you are in doubt, be still, and wait. When doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelop you, be still. Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists -- as it surely will. Then act with courage " White Eagle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Thanks, Karen. And I thought I was eating all that good stuff. Perhaps I'll stew those Shiitakes in the crockpot overnight on low-- just under a simmer. That should do it. I noticed you have a recommended reading list on Amazon--I'll check it out. thanks again, Marian Integral Acupuncture of Monterey Bay www.iaomb.com , Karen Vaughan <creationsgarden1 wrote: > > Marian, > Of the medicinal mushrooms, only maitaki (grifola) has useful > constituents that come out by eating. Mushrooms are made of chitin, > like lobster shells, and the chitin locks up the useful polysaccharides > that come out in a long, low-cooked soup. For shitakis, cooking for an > hour at low heat should do the trick. Powdering shitakis wouldn't help, > but you could use a powdered extract. You could make a powdered extract > yourself as Chris Hobbs describes by cooking down a soup to a sludge and > drying it on the fruit leather trays of an extractor. He tends to just > use the mushroom leather rather than to powder it- it is portable. Or > he has used dried eluthero in lieu of starch for the medium and ground > it up. > > -- > Karen Vaughan, MSTOM > Licensed Acupuncturist, and Herbalist > 253 Garfield Place > Brooklyn, NY 11215 > > (718) 622-6755 > > Co-Conspirator to Make the World A Better Place: Visit http://www.heroicstories.com/ and join the conspiracy > See my Acupuncture and Herbalism website at:http://www.byregion.net/profiles/ksvaughan2.html > > > " When you are in doubt, be still, and wait. When doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelop you, be still. Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists -- as it surely will. Then act with courage " White Eagle > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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