Our powders are different

Sustainability. How and Where our Mushrooms are grown?

Dr Noel’s 100% pure concentrated mushroom powders are made from organically certified mushrooms grown in China. Of the seven mushroom species that are renowned for their potent health benefits, only Shiitake and Turkey Tail are permitted to be grown in Australia under the current Australian Plant Quarantine Regulations. The other five species, Maitake, Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga, and Lion's Mane are banned. There is a lot of misinformation currently about these mushrooms, so be careful of product claims for Australian grown Lion’s Mane, Maitake, and Reishi which are illegal to cultivate in Australia.

While there are some related species of Turkey Tail (Coriolus versicolor), Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus), and Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) that do grow in Australian forests, there is NO scientific evidence that these related species possess the same potential health benefits of the authentic Turkey Tail, Lion's Mane and Reishi mushrooms grown in China.

This is why all our mushrooms are ethically and sustainably grown in their native forest environment in China, as they have done for thousands of years. You can have complete peace of mind that all Dr Noel’s Mushroom Powders are exactly what they say they are: the best quality organic powders available on the market, consistently rich in bioactive compounds, supported by independent research and quality certifications, that are available for your review.

Whilst each species is influenced by seasonality and location, these days only Chaga and Turkey Tail grow wild in the forest. Our Chaga and Turkey Tail mushrooms are wild grown and harvested from the Heilongjiang forest and Daxing’anling mountains. The Maitake, Shiitake, Reishi, and Lion’s Mane are ethically cultivated in special sheltered greenhouses in their native Fujian and Zhejiang province and grown on sterilised sawdust from traditional native timbers such as Beech, organic rice powder, rice grain, and hardwood chips. At maturity the mushrooms are harvested by hand and sent to the laboratory for testing, drying, and milling to powder.

Traceability. How our powders are made?

All the bioactive components in medicinal mushrooms are locked up in the cells of the mushroom. The cell walls are composed of chitin which is the compound that makes up the exoskeleton of crabs, prawns and lobsters. As humans, we do not have the ability to break down this chitin ourselves, so we have to heat it, by boiling the mushrooms in water, steam sterilising them, grilling them, or brewing them to make tea. Other methods include extraction with alcohol, or dual extraction, a combination of hot water and alcohol extraction. All these methods extract the polysaccharides, including beta-glucans, from the mushrooms.

Our mushroom powders are made from the extracted whole mushroom fruiting body, which contains the vast majority of the beta glucans. Some mushroom supplements are made by simply grinding up mushroom mycelium that has been grown on brown rice. This final product of mycelium on grain contains non-significant quantities of the beneficial compounds. In our process the whole mushroom is dried, screened, granulated, milled and steam sterilised at a minimum of 110 degrees Celsius for forty minutes. The resulting powder is then screened again and packaged.

Rigorous testing protocols are undertaken at each stage in the preparation of Dr Noel’s Mushroom Powders. We test for:

• Heavy metals
• Pesticide residues
• Microbal contamination

In addition, each batch of mushrooms used to make our mushroom powders must have a guaranteed level of beta-glucans in the final product. Dr Noel’s Mushroom Powders are made from whole fruiting bodies grown organically with standardised processes for growing, harvesting, drying and packaging, producing a consistent product.

Organic Certifications

All our medicinal mushroom powders are fully certified organic meeting the highest standards around the world to assure you of the quality of our ingredients. Organic is good for you, good for the planet and our mushrooms are 100% grown and made in their native environment from natural waste materials.