What Is A Mushroom Fruiting Body?

If you’ve been shopping for medicinal mushrooms, you may have heard this term tossed around a lot…⁣

So what is “Fruiting Body”?⁣ (and why does it matter)

Mushrooms consist of two parts – mycelium and fruiting body.

Mycelium is the vegetative part of the mushroom.

It appears as white filaments that grow through a nutritious substrate.

You can kind of think of mycelium as the root structure of a mushroom.

Fruiting Body is the part of the mushroom that grows out of the tree or the ground and can be harvested.⁣

It’s what most people think of when they think of a mushroom.

Why It Matters

To get the benefits of mushrooms, you need to use the part of the that actually contains the beneficial compounds.

Makes sense, right?

The fruiting body of the mushroom contains high concentrations of beta-glucans, triterpenes, and other special compounds like cordycepin.

This can be proven analytically, which is why supplements made from fruiting body usually list the active ingredients right on the package.

Believe it or not, many of the mushroom supplements on the market are made of something called “mycelium on grain”.

In other words, mushroom mycelium that has been grown out on a grain like rice or oats.

It’s cheaper and faster to grow –

But the end result is a product that is mostly grain starch, and doesn’t really contain any of the mushroom-y goodness you’re looking for.

(crazy, right?)

At FreshCap, we believe in mushrooms that are actually made from mushrooms.

That’s why we make our extracts from whole mushroom fruiting body, without the use of grain based fillers.

It’s a difference you can feel!

Posted by

Tony Shields

Hi' I'm Tony. I've dedicated a ton of time to learn all about the amazing world of mushrooms- and would love to share that information with you! I am particularily passionate about growing mushrooms, and teaching others how to do the same.