Hericium Erinaceus Concentrate
Hericium erinaceus concentrate is a concentrated extract of the fungus Hericium erinaceus, the lion's mane or hedgehog mushroom, sold as a high solids liquid or as a spray dried powder standardised on its polysaccharide content. The concentrate is a processed extract rather than milled mushroom, which is a separate and much cheaper product that buyers routinely confuse with it.
The constituents that define the material fall into two groups. The water-soluble fraction consists of beta-glucans, principally beta-1,3 and beta-1,6 linked glucans, together with heteropolysaccharides and glycoproteins, and it is total polysaccharide or specifically beta-glucan that the concentrate is standardised against. The alcohol-soluble fraction carries the aromatic compounds specific to the species: hericenones, which occur in the fruiting body, and erinacines, which occur in the mycelium and not in the fruiting body, a distinction that matters because it determines what a given concentrate can honestly claim to contain.
The dried concentrate is a light brown to brown fine powder with a mild savoury, faintly seafood-like odour and a bland taste, which makes it easy to formulate compared with most bitter botanicals. The polysaccharide fraction dissolves in warm water to a slightly hazy, mildly viscous solution, while the hericenone fraction is poorly water soluble. The material is stable to normal processing but the glucan chains depolymerise under strong acid and prolonged high heat, and the powder is hygroscopic.
We source bulk Hericium Erinaceus Concentrate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shaanxi. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Source | Hericium erinaceus cultivated fruiting body |
| Appearance | Light brown to brown fine powder |
| Total Polysaccharide | ≥ 30.0% |
| Beta-Glucan by Enzymatic Method | ≥ 20.0% |
| Alpha-Glucan (Starch) | ≤ 5.0% |
| Identification | Conforms by DNA identity testing of source material |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 6.0% |
| Ash | ≤ 8.0% |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The primary grade distinction is the raw material, and it is more important than the assay figure. Fruiting body concentrate is made from the cultivated mushroom and is the grade that carries hericenones and the higher beta-glucan level. Mycelium concentrate, often grown on a grain substrate, carries erinacines but is typically sold as mycelium with the residual grain still present, which dilutes the glucan content substantially; whether the grain has been separated is the specification point buyers should insist on.
Assay grades are quoted as total polysaccharide by colourimetric method, commonly at 20, 30 or 50 percent, or as beta-glucan by an enzymatic method, which returns a considerably lower and more meaningful number, commonly 15 to 30 percent. Extracts are also traded as ratio extracts at 8:1 or 10:1 without a marker claim. Dual extraction grades, made by running both a hot water and an alcohol extraction and combining the liquors, are sold where both fractions are wanted. Physical variants include liquid concentrate at 30 to 50 percent solids, spray dried powder, maltodextrin-carried grades and organic certified material, which is common in this category.
Applications
- Cognitive and nervous system supplements in capsule and tablet form, the largest outlet for the standardised concentrate
- Mushroom coffee, cacao and instant drink blends, using the water-soluble spray dried grade
- Functional beverages and shots formulated on beta-glucan content
- Immune support formulas, blended with reishi, chaga and turkey tail concentrates
- Digestive and gut health products drawing on the traditional use of the mushroom
- Gummies and functional confectionery, where the bland taste is an advantage
- Sports and nootropic stacks combined with other cognitive ingredients
- Companion animal supplements aimed at older animals
- Savoury seasoning and umami bases, using the concentrate for its mushroom character rather than its actives
China Manufacturers of Hericium Erinaceus Concentrate
Top Hericium Erinaceus Concentrate manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States Hericium erinaceus is a cultivated edible mushroom with an established history of food use, and the fruiting body and its extracts are marketed as dietary ingredients under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, with manufacture under 21 CFR Part 111. Mycelium grown on grain is treated by many in the industry as a different ingredient from fruiting body, and the Food and Drug Administration has taken an interest in labelling that presents one as the other. There is no food additive regulation or generally recognised as safe affirmation specific to the concentrate.
In the European Union the position is less settled than the mushroom trade often assumes. Hericium erinaceus is consumed as a food in East Asia but its history of consumption within the EU before May 1997 is limited, and the Commission novel food catalogue records the species as requiring assessment, with extracts and mycelial preparations more clearly falling within the scope of the novel food Regulation than the whole cultivated mushroom. Authorisation status therefore has to be checked against the specific preparation. No health claim for the species appears on the EU register of authorised claims, so cognitive claims cannot be made. Neither Codex nor JECFA has published a specification for the material.
Manufacturing Process
Production begins with cultivated fruiting bodies, grown on sterilised hardwood sawdust substrate in bags or bottles and harvested when the spines are fully developed but before spore release. The mushrooms are cleaned, sliced and dried in hot air at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, then milled to a coarse powder. Some plants run fresh mushroom directly to extraction, which avoids the drying step but restricts production to the harvest cycle.
Extraction of the polysaccharide fraction is by hot water at 90 to 100 degrees Celsius in successive countercurrent stages, since the beta-glucans are locked in the chitinous cell wall and need sustained heat to release; some plants precede this with an enzymatic treatment using chitinase and cellulase to break the wall and raise yield. For a dual extraction the spent solids or a parallel batch are then extracted with aqueous ethanol at 50 to 70 percent to recover the hericenone fraction, and the two liquors are combined afterwards. The pooled liquor is centrifuged and filtered, then concentrated under vacuum in a falling film evaporator. Where a higher polysaccharide assay is required the concentrate is subjected to alcohol precipitation, adding ethanol to 70 or 80 percent so that the glucans drop out while sugars and salts stay in solution, and the precipitate is redissolved and ultrafiltered. The purified concentrate is standardised, then either sold as a liquid or spray dried, sieved and packed under a moisture barrier.
