Mycelium Vs. Fruiting Body - Which Is The Best For Mushroom Supplements?

There’s hundreds more options in mushroom supplements now than there was a year ago. You have a multitude of options including mushroom coffee, mushroom tea, pure powder, capsule, pill, gummies and tinctures of course. But as interest grows, so does the confusion. Labels now claim “4000mg per dose”, “20:1 extract”, or “full spectrum biomass”, often without explaining what those terms mean or how they impact product quality. 

If you’re health-conscious and seeking real benefits from mushrooms like Lion’s Mane, Reishi, or Cordyceps, understanding the sourcing and formulation of your mushroom supplement is essential. Let’s cut through the noise and talk about what matters.

The Anatomy of a Mushroom: Mycelium Vs. Fruiting Body

Think of a mushroom like a tree. The mycelium is like a root system: it grows underground or in decaying wood, spreading out in a vast network to absorb nutrients. The fruiting body is what you recognise as a mushroom - its visible, above-ground, part used for culinary or traditional medicinal purposes.

Both parts come from the same organism, but they’re biochemically very different. 

Mycelium

Mycelium plays a crucial ecological role. It breaks down organic matter and transfers nutrients across ecosystems. Some companies use mycelium grown on grain substrates (like rice or oats) and then dry and powder the mixture - grain and all - to create supplements. 

But here’s the catch: this process often results in products with a high starch content and low active compound levels, particularly beta-glucans, which are linked to immune support and anti-inflammatory benefits.

What the Science Says: 

A 2017 study published in Nature Scientific Reports found that mycelium-based products contained significantly lower beta-glucan levels and higher alpha-glucans (starches from grain) than fruiting body extracts. This dilutes the therapeutic value consumers are often looking for in a medicinal mushroom supplement.

Mushroom Fruiting Body

Fruiting bodies - that part of the mushroom you’d slice and sautee or see in the forest - are where the highest concentrations of bioactive compounds are found, including: 

• Beta-glucans (responsible for immune function)

• Triterpenes (mostly found in Reishi, responsible for stress and liver support)

• Erinacines and hericenones (found in Lion’s Mane, responsible for cognitive health)

• Antioxidants and polyphenols

Because these compounds develop during the fruiting stage, tinctures or extracts made exclusively from fruiting bodies are typically more potent and effective. 

Research Backing:

• A 2020 analysis published in Journal of Fungi found that fruiting bodies had 3-5x more beta-glucans than mycelium-on-grain products.

• In clinical studies, Lion’s Mane fruiting body extracts improved memory and cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (Mori et al., 2009; Saitsu et al., 2021).

Mycelium-on-Grain: A sneaky Ingredient?

Many mass-market mushroom products use mycelium-on-grain (MOG) as a cost-saving shortcut. But they’re not always transparent about it. Some labels will say “mycelium biomass” or “full spectrum”, which sounds appealing - but often includes a large percentage of inert grain filler. 

If a mushroom supplement does not clearly state “fruiting body only” or offer lab-tested beta-glucan content, you may be paying for starch, not science. 

Bottom Line: Mycelium is a fantastic part of a mushroom - for the ecosystem and nature - not humans as much. 

Understanding Extract Ratios Vs. Whole Mushroom

Okay, so you have found the supplement which uses “mushroom fruiting body only” but then you look at the extraction - and once again - nothing makes sense. 

Extraction is as important as the mushroom part used. Dual extraction (alcohol + hot water) is the gold standard, pulling both water-soluble beta-glucans and alcohol-soluble triterpenes. Without it, you’re missing half the benefit!

Before we move onto extraction ratios, it’s important to know in what form the mushroom supplement you're looking at is in. Is it a powder? Or a capsule? Or a liquid extract also known as a tincture?

(There are many other forms of mushroom supplements such as “gummies” etc. - we’re really not happy with them and think they’re not good for us at all, so we won't get into it.)

You may see some tinctures, capsules or powders advertised as containing “20:1 mushroom extract” or even “1000mg per dose”. Here’s how to decode that:

• 20:1 extract means 20 parts of dried mushroom were used to make 1 part of extract powder.

With tinctures it’s much different. Here’s how to decode a tincture extraction:

• 1:3 dual extract means 1 part mushroom raw fruiting body has been extracted in 3 parts of liquid (hot water and alcohol combined).

20:1 sounds potent - and it is, but only when consuming it in powder or capsule form. But if you use a 20:1 extract to make a tincture, you’re now extracting an already extracted product. That's like brewing tea with powder that’s already been brewed and dried once. The result? Diminishing returns.

So here’s the problem:

• Once mushroom actives are extracted, they’re already isolated.

• Tincturing extract powders may yield little additional benefit.

• Worse, many companies inflate dosage claims by counting the original dried mushroom weight - not what ends up in the tincture.

For example, a company might say “1000mg of 20:1 extract” and imply you’re getting 20,000mg of mushrooms per 2ml serving. But your body only receives what’s in the final solution - not theoretical math.

So when you’re looking at ingredients and you see: 

POWDERS & CAPSULES: 20:1 or 10:1 extract (or similar) - thumbs up! The raw mushroom has been extracted and you’re consuming something that may be beneficial. 

TINCTURES: 20:1 or similar - thumbs down! You want to see a non extracted raw mushroom fruiting body being extracted - not an extract of an extract.

The Bottom Line

Let’s summarise what informed consumers should know:

Reference List

Bílek, J., Grycová, L., & Hošek, J., 2021. Immunomodulatory and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Polysaccharides Extracted from Fruiting Bodies and Cultivated Mycelium of Medicinal Mushrooms. Journal of Fungi, 7(4), p.258.
Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/7/4/258

Friedman, M., 2016. Chemistry, nutrition, and health-promoting properties of Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s Mane) mushroom fruiting bodies and mycelia and their bioactive compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63(32), pp.7108–7123.
Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b02914

Glisan, S.L., Schwartz, S.J. & Ferruzzi, M.G., 2021. Mushroom extracts: extraction methods and composition of bioactive compounds. Food Reviews International, 37(2), pp.140–165.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/87559129.2019.1613381

Halpern, G.M., 2007. Healing Mushrooms: Effective Treatments for Today's Illnesses. Square One Publishers.
(Useful for historical and traditional comparisons between mycelium and fruiting body.)

Mori, K., Inatomi, S., Ouchi, K., Azumi, Y. & Tuchida, T., 2009. Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytotherapy Research, 23(3), pp.367–372.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.2634

Osińska-Jaroszuk, M., Jaszek, M., Janusz, G., & Mazur, A., 2020. Medicinal mushrooms as a source of anticancer compounds and other bioactivities: A review. Journal of Fungi, 6(4), p.136.
Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/6/4/136

Rogers, R., 2011. The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America. North Atlantic Books.
(Comprehensive source on extraction and medicinal use of mushroom fruiting bodies.)

Smith, J.E., Rowan, N.J., & Sullivan, R., 2002. Medicinal mushrooms: A rapidly developing area of biotechnology for cancer therapy and other bioactivities. Biotechnology Letters, 24(22), pp.1839–1845.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020924318191

Stamets, P., 2000. Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. Ten Speed Press.
(A reference text on cultivation and structural differences between fruiting bodies and mycelium.)

Zhang, J., An, Y., & Gao, Y., 2020. Comparison of the contents of polysaccharides and triterpenoids in fruiting bodies and mycelia of Ganoderma lucidum. Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, 14, pp.3048–3054. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-020-00526-5