Mushroom Extraction 101: Single, Dual, and Supercritical™ Explained

When we talk about functional mushrooms, we’re not just talking about food. We’re talking about the bioactive compounds inside them, the molecules that support focus, resilience, immunity, and long-term brain health.

The problem? Those compounds are locked inside chitin which is the same indigestible fibrous material that crab and prawn shells are made of. It's the tough stuff that makes up bug exoskeletons.

From now on you can always picture this when you think of mushrooms: every mushroom is made up of microscopic sized cells of course but then little every mushroom cell has a tiny layer of armour around it, kind of like a mini crab. We as humans aren't really equipped with the digestive system to break down shells. That means when you eat a mushroom straight, you’ll get a lot of fibre and some nutrients, but the bulk of the good stuff stays trapped inside that tough outter layer and then gets passed. It is good probiotics though, and good for fibremaxxing, but not for getting the specific mushroom benefits you want.

Extraction is the science of unlocking those compounds from the other cellular material which makes them readily available to be absorbed by the body. As you can imagine, just like there are different cooking techniques in a kitchen, there are different extraction methods to make different results.

This is the cheapest and most common method, especially for gummies, powders, and basic alcohol free tinctures. Hot-water extraction requires no special equipment and the least knowledge. Just the water and mushroom over heat, cook for some time, and then strain it.

Water will pull out beta-glucans, the immune-supporting polysaccharides often advertised on labels. Beta-glucans are located on the outside of that mushroom armour cell wall which is convenient for this extraction. Companies love this because beta-glucans are easy to test for, so they can say “lab tested” and make it sound like an extract flex.

The reality is that water extraction doesn’t actually touch the alcohol-soluble or fat-soluble compounds like triterpenes, hericenones, erinacines and others. Water extracts are easily dried to make a basic powder which is also naturally more shelf stable without the oils/fat soluble components.So with water-only extracts, you’re literally getting half the mushroom, at most. Which half? It depends on what you're chasing.

Now as mentioned, water extracts only capture the parts that dissolve into the water, mainly the complex sugars. The oils and other constituents within the fats won't go into the water. It's like stirring butter into water, you can stir all day but the butter won't mix in. So you need something other than water, you'll need a solvent that's natural solvent is food grade ethanol. The fat-loving compounds can be dissolved into the ethanol so that's why its used by so many companies go that step further. Then the water extraction liquid from above and the ethanol extraction liquid can be combined together. This captures both the water-soluble beta-glucans and the alcohol-soluble fraction. This is commonly called a dual-extract and these became the “gold standard” since they're such a more comprehensive product compared to single extracts.

I think it's important to note that ethanol also pays a couple other roles which make it fantastic for extracts. Having the ethanol in the extract allows it to be shelf stable without adding any preservatives, stabilisers or additional ingredients. It allows extracts to have as little as just three ingredients: ethanol, water and mushroom, plus it helps prevent compound degradation. The ethanol also aids in bioavailability by improving absorption. So even though having alcohol may sound counterintuitive in a health product, there's good reason it's in there and at just a fraction of a ml, it's about the same amount of ethanol in a piece of ripe fruit. (yes, your reminder that ethanol is naturally occurring in lots of healthy, ferment foods)

Of course, ethanol extraction is more complicated than water extraction and so within this category there are various methods with varying results.

For many at home extract makers and some companies this can mean soaking mushroom powder in alcohol for a usually long period of time and then blending it with a water extract. It’s a crude process, it's inexpensive, low-tech, and inconsistent but it gets more compounds than water alone.

For us obviously we go a step further and use an interesting scientific process called vacuum distillation and a fancy looking machine called a rotovap. This machine creates a vacuum so that the ethanol inside boils at a lower temperature. (If you've ever been to a high elevation you know that cooking temperatures are different where theres less oxygen, same concept). So this lower boiling point protects delicate compounds while still removing and concentrating them without harsh heat. This precision step ensures we’re not just pulling “something” out, we’re pulling the right compounds out and most importantly not burning them away in the process.

But even here, it's not perfect. Many delicate fat-soluble compounds are still left behind. That tough mushroom armour is so difficult to get past that alcohol extraction is not as efficient as it could be. So often, these dual-extracts are inconsistent and you're not getting enough of the delicate active compounds.

At MYCOfactor, “good enough” and "what everyone else was doing" wasn’t good enough. Don't get me wrong here, it was great for the time. Dual-extraction was the best technology available years and up until this point so any dual-extract made under vacuum in a rotovap was always what you wanted. However as technology improves so do we and so we built a new third extraction method using it. This extraction process that doesn’t just extract more, it extracts what matters in a level far beyond what's been technically possible to achieve before.

Introducing our Supercritical™ Full-Spectrum.

Supercritical extraction uses CO2 as the solvent! You may think, wait that's a gas! How does that work? Well buckle up because this is incredibly high tech but nerdy fun that should make sense. Imagine pipes in a closed loop system. On one end, the high end, is a vessel with the mushroom and the other end, the low end, is an empty vessel. The pipes connecting them are filled with flowing CO2. What we do is pressure the gas so much on the way leading to the mushroom that it turns from gas to a liquid-like state. That point of state change from gas to liquid-like is called Supercritical. So that liquid is then able to punch through and wash over the mushroom like a liquid solvent. How cool! The liquid-like CO2 solvent now has beneficial compounds dissolved into it, but as it moves from high to low the pressure drops. At that point it's like a supersaturated cloud in the pipes and what happens next? The CO2 turns back into a gas as it rains down the beneficial compounds into that other vessel on the low side. Since it's a closed loop system it's incredibly sustainable too with high efficiency and low waste!

How are we going? Did I lose you? I hope not, just remember it's like mushroom constituent rain.

When we say we are committed to innovation and bringing you the most from the mushroom we mean it. Meet our groundbreaking comprehensive extract made by combining all three parts, taking the best from tradition, building upon it and bringing it into the next generation.

• Supercritical CO₂: captures fragile highly fat-soluble molecules (like hericenones in Lion’s Mane) that hot water or alcohol would miss.
  
• Ethanol: draws out the alcohol-soluble compounds and aromatics. Keeps extract shelf stable, low ingredient and improves absorbtion.

• Water: releases complex polysaccharides like beta-glucans while providing a viscous body and colour.

The result is a true full-spectrum extract, the closest thing to the mushroom’s natural chemistry, concentrated and ready for optimal absorption for optimal benefits.

If your mushroom product is just a hot-water extract (think: imported powders, any gummies, mushroom coffee, anything with a very high extraction ratio), you’re definitely missing half the picture. Dual-extracts are much better than single because they contain both fat and water soluble compounds, but even those leave good stuff behind. Up until now, a dual-extract made with vacuum distillation was great but not perfect. However, with the introduction of Supercritical™ Full-Spectrum, you finally get the bioactives in a high enough concentration wanted for an adult human body. That's what everyone who takes mushroom supplements has been chasing for so long, enough of the right compounds to make a meaningful difference. You want to get what you pay for, right?

So when we say potency, we mean it.

When we say bioavailable, this is why.

When we say full-spectrum, it actually is.

Extraction isn’t just jargon and it's definitely not something to worry about "losing" the the quality of the mushroom. It's quite the opposite actually. It ensures the active compounds you want are freed from the tough chitin cell walls and ready to be taken in by your body in much higher concentrations. The extraction method is highly specific yet it uses natural ingredients. A proper extraction is the difference between something that works, and something that’s just marketing.

Thanks again for joining me on this journey and let's make the most out of mushrooms!

Have a super day,

Rachel, founder of MYCOfactor