What Is Lion’s Mane Mushroom? Benefits, Bioactive Compounds & Why Sourcing Matters

Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a functional mushroom known for its brain-boosting, nerve-regenerating compounds like hericenones, erinacines, and beta-glucans. But not all Lion’s Mane is created equal, and there's a lot of confusing information out there as this mushroom explodes in popularity. In this MYCOfactor Masterclass, we break down what Lion's Mane is, what the research says, and how to choose a product that actually works — no fluff, no filler.

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100% Australian Lion's mane on pointed hand grown by Urban Valley for MYCOfactor functional mushroom products

What is Lion's Mane?

You’ve probably heard about Lion’s Mane by now. It’s the mushroom people keep talking about — for brain health, memory, mood, and focus. But not all Lion’s Mane is created equal, and not everything on the shelf is worth your time (or your neurons).

In this first MYCOfactor Masterclass, let’s break it down — what Lion’s Mane actually is, what it does, and everything you need to know to make sure you’re taking a product that works.

Let's Talk About The Mushroom Itself

Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a white, shaggy mushroom that grows in cascading spines. We can't tell you how many times we've heard people saying "wow, it looks like cauliflower!"

It is native to temperate hardwood forests throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. While Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) isn’t native to Australia, its cousin Coral Tooth (Hericium coralloides) has been found in cool temperate forests — mostly in the southern states. Coral Tooth looks JUST like coral or a snowflake, with branch like structures instead of the shaggy fur like structure. Coral Tooth has yet to be thoroughly investigated for its nootropic properties but that will surely change soon as the popularity of Lion's Mane in Australia brings the Hericium family in the spotlight.

The Lion’s Mane we grow is a cultivated species introduced here, but grown organically on 100% Australian materials in purpose-built clean environments. The wood that we use that replicates the trees it grows on is sourced from Tasmania. It is a sawdust byproduct from the forestry industry with all the bark, branches and bits. It gets collected, turned into pellets and recycled into mushroom growing medium! To give it extra nutrition, we also mix in the dried shredded outer shells of soybeans from non gmo organic farms in Toowoomba, Queensland. It's also another great local clean byproduct put to good use! The water we use is clean filtered drinking water. Those are the only 3 ingredients, plus the Lion's Mane spawn of course. As you can imagine, this means you get Lion's Mane grown on clean Australian materials — not flown in from a factory overseas. Full control of growing conditions and healthy pristine mushrooms means you get the full power of Hericium bioactives without worries of other contamination from unclean environments like those overseas. Let's face it, other countries just don't have the same high standards for environmental regulations or even organic standards as we do, so their inputs including water and raw materials are inherently are far more likely to have chemical or heavy metal residues. Not here, thankfully!

Lion's Mane growing in our specially built clean grow rooms. The mushrooms are grown vertically on racks which we roll in and out of the rooms. The rooms are monitored using sensors for humidity, temperature and C02. Fun fact: these mushrooms breath so much oxygen and expel so much C02 we refresh the air in the rooms every 10 minutes!
Holding fully grown lion's mane before harvest at Urban Valley mushroom farm in Brisbane for MYCOfactor

Want to grow Lion's Mane?

Lion’s Mane is one of the more interesting mushrooms to grow because it loves humidity and fresh air, yet a tiny bit too much of either of those in either direction causes the mushroom to change its form - maybe growing smooth instead of its hair structure, or growing in small puffy shapes instead of bigger ones, turning yellowish instead of white... it's a mushroom you have to be in tune with. Perhaps start with a Lion's Mane kit and go from there.

  • Humidity: 85–95%
  • Temperature: around 16–22°C
  • Growth time: 14 days

What It Tastes Like (and How to Cook It)

Fresh Lion’s Mane isn't earthy with that classic mushroom flavour. Instead it's naturally mild, with almost a slightly sweet flavour. It also has a unique texture. It's dense and meaty, with it's inside structure reminiscent of meat fibre structure. This makes it surprisingly one of the most almost versatile mushrooms to cook with!

In cooking, you can:

Pan-fry it with olive oil, garlic, and salt like any other mushroom.

Pull it apart, it will look like crab and you can treat it like you would seafood. Perhaps some light cooking with butter and chives or make into a Lion's Mane "crab" cake or Lion's Mane "lobster" roll.

Cut it up and throw it in a saucy curry. It soaks in the flavours so well and you'll swear it's chicken with that protein-like texture.

Make steaks with it! Put a weight or pan on top to flatten the whole Lion's Mane while cooking over low heat, then take it off the heat, marinate it for as long as you can, then put it back on the pan other medium high heat or the BBQ. It slices up just like a steak! Thank us later!

When powdered or in our extracts, the taste is subtle — slightly nutty and caramelised, which pairs so well in milky coffees, chai lattes, smoothes, wellness drinks, etc.

It doesn’t taste like your typical culinary mushroom (and that’s a good thing).

What Does Lion’s Mane Actually Do?

When you strip back the buzzwords, the main reason people take Lion’s Mane is to support their cognition — focus, clarity, memory, mental stamina. But those outcomes aren’t just imagined or anecdotal.

What the research shows is that Lion’s Mane can help: nerve growth and brain plasticity, mood and memory (particularly under stress), inflammation (especially in the brain and gut), immune balance and the gut-brain axis connection.

These real benefits are largely due to the synergy between compounds like hericenones, erinacines, and beta-glucans — as well as lesser-characterised terpenes and antioxidant phenolics that you’ll only find in proper fruiting body extracts.

🧠📊 A 2009 clinical trial showed that adults with mild cognitive impairment saw improvements in cognitive function after taking Lion’s Mane for 16 weeks — and saw that benefit drop off once they stopped (Mori et al., 2009). In other words, it's doing something measurable, and consistency matters.

Check out the paper for yourself, It's impressve! Mori, K. et al. (2009). Improving effects of the mushroom Hericium erinaceus on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytotherapy Research.

Or see more Lion's Mane research here.

How to Take Lion’s Mane (and Actually Feel It)

This isn’t one of those supplements where you need to wait six months to notice a difference, if at all. Most people feel Lion’s Mane within the first 5–7 days, some even day 1. It’s subtle — not a jolt, not a buzz — just a quiet increase in clarity, focus, and memory recall. Like a bit of fog has lifted, or an increase in awareness, better mood and overall just feeling good.

Studies show that Lion's Mane works, but the confusing part is what to take and what's the best way to consume Lion's Mane for the benefits that you want. Maybe you've tried Lion's Mane before and nothing much changed, or maybe you're looking to start adding Lion's Mane into your diet for the first time so let's break this down in a straightforward way so that you can choose whats right for you, because there is definitely a difference and bang for buck!

FRESH -

Fresh Lion's Mane is delicious, but if you want the brain boosting benefits, it is not the way to go. Fresh Lion's Mane is 90% water and you would have to eat a kg a day or more to even start to get enough compounds from it. So just enjoy the fresh mushroom for its taste but that's it.

POWDER -

Powder is more concentrated than fresh because without that water content it is already '10:1 strength'. Whole fruiting body powder contains all of the components of the mushroom including the full range of bioactive compounds along with the fibre and indigestible cell walls. Research has shown that benefits are seen from pure fruiting body powder in as little as .75g per day. However, your body still needs to try to break down the cellular components in order to get the compounds out, meaning that the most desired bioactive compounds are not as bioavailable. This is a great option for those who want to focus on beta-glucans, boost the gut-brain axis, improve the immune system and for those who can not have any alcohol at all. Again, there is research that supports whole fruiting body powder's ability to improve brain function, it's just not as bioavailable as a well made dual-extract and we'll get to that part later in this section.

Things to be aware of with powders:

⚠️ Most powders are imported. Look at the country of origin label because 'Made in Australia' or 'Australian Owned' are almost always a sneaky way of hiding the fact that they're using non Australian mushrooms and just making it sound better.

⚠️ Some contain rice. These are low strength because of the undisclosed amount of rice which essentially becomes a cheap filler and does nothing for the body but reduces their cost of goods and increases profit.

⚠️ Some are extract powders. These brands are only using water to soak the mushrooms, often at high temperatures, then drying the water. These do not contain the Nerve Growth Factor stimulating compounds of Hericinones and Erinacines which are the unique ones you want from Lion's Mane. These powders are almost always imported and poor quality.

CAPSULES -

Capsules fall under the same description as powders, with the same things to watch out for as mentioned above. The only difference is that the powder is in a capsule that the body needs to break down first before it starts to try to break down the components of the powder. The trick with getting effective Lion's Mane that you can feel is having your body to be able to readily absorb the bioactive compounds, not put another barrier between them.

LIQUID DUAL-EXTRACT -

To talk about what a dual-extract is, we need to briefly think about some basic chemistry that people who want to learn about Lion's Mane (and mushroom companies) need to understand. Lion’s Mane contains a wide range of incredible bioactive compounds — but they don’t all dissolve in the same way. The beta-glucans and polysaccharides that support immune and gut health are water-soluble, while the hericenones, erinacines, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds that support brain function, nerve growth, and cellular protection are in the oils. Just like how water and oil don't mix, in order to get the absolute most out of the Lion's Mane, you need to capture the compounds that dissolve in water separately to the ones in the oils that don't dissolve in water. A dual-extract does this by using water as well as a solvent, in most cases alcohol to effectively pull both kinds of compounds from the mushroom's tough cellular walls. This full-spectrum approach ensures you're getting the brain stimulating compounds that you want from Lion's Mane in the most easily absorbable liquid format for your body to take in. There's no digestion trying to break down the mushroom and hope for the best. The compounds are taken up by the body straight away, meaning it's the most bioavailable form of Lion's Mane, and the alcohol actually plays a part in boosting that bioavailability. A properly made dual-extract is the the most effective way to deliver the complete range of benefits Lion’s Mane offers — and the best way to actually feel a difference.

Why We Extract the Way We Do (and Why Most Brands Don’t)

Now this is what really separates an ok mushroom product from a premium one. That's because there is absolutely a difference between companies' products based on how their mushrooms are processed and whats in the final product! All powders are not the same and an extract is not a catch all term for all extracts! It gets tricky with the deceptive marketing words out there.

At MYCOfactor, we extract using a proprietary cutting edge scientific method that preserves the full bioactive profile: that includes water-soluble polysaccharides like beta-glucans, but also alcohol-soluble compounds like erinacines and other aromatic compounds. We also carefully consider each of the compound's molecular chemistry including how they react to heat, acidity and their solubility. It is an actual science! So our resulting dual-extract is as absolutely comprehensive, potent, and as scientifically precise as possible.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned before, other mushroom companies can literally boil Lion's Mane in water, strain it and call it an extract. Remember how some of these compounds including hericenones and erinacines (the most unique and prized in Lion's Mane) do not dissolve in water? Yeah, this means a lot of the mushroom companies out there either don't understand basic chemistry or they're being deceptive with their marketing. That's not ok in our book.

We’re not just boiling mushrooms and calling it medicine. We’re not just soaking them in ethanol and hoping for the best. We dual-extract, using a method we developed based on detailed chemistry, and only the mushrooms we grow ourselves here in Australia — because it’s the only way to control the process end to end, and to make sure what we sell is actually present in the correct levels and doing the thing Lion's Mane is supposed to do in your body.

You can get cheap Lion’s Mane online and make basic products with buzzwords and questionable potency, or you can grow it and make it correctly. We do the second one. Always.

I hope this helps you sort through the overwhelming amount of Lion's Mane information nd products out there. My goal is to help you find the product that suits you while arming you with information to help make those decisions. If you have more questions please reach out! info@mycofactor.com.au

Thank you as always for joining me on this journey.

Warmly,

Rachel

Founder of MYCOfactor