Every Purana label says the same few things, and each of them was a decision. 8:1. 100% fruiting body. Dual extracted. Organic, non-GMO, vegan, made in a GMP-certified facility, licensed by Health Canada. Read quickly, they look like the usual supplement boilerplate. Read slowly, they are the whole difference between a capsule that contains a mushroom and a capsule that contains what the mushroom is for.

This article explains each of those decisions in plain language, then opens up every formula we make to show you what is inside it and what the research says about those ingredients.

Concentration: what the ratio on the label means

Every Purana product is an extract, and the ratio tells you how much mushroom went into it. A 1:1 extract starts with one kilogram of dried fruiting bodies and ends with one kilogram of extract. Nothing has been concentrated, but something important has already happened: hot water has opened the mushroom's tough chitin cell walls and freed the beta-glucans, so what you take is far more bioavailable than the raw mushroom ever was. That is what our lion's mane 1:1 capsules and lion's mane 1:1 powder are: the whole mushroom, at its own potency, unlocked.

An 8:1 extract goes further. Eight kilograms of dried fruiting bodies are extracted, in hot water and then in organic grain alcohol, and concentrated down to one kilogram. Two things happen at once. The compounds are made available, just as in a 1:1, and they arrive eight times more concentrated, with the alcohol-soluble molecules that water alone leaves behind coming along for the ride. 16:1 means sixteen. Health Canada asks for this to be printed on the label as quantity crude equivalent, or QCE: the amount of whole mushroom each capsule represents. Our lion's mane 8:1 capsules, for example, carry 2,800 mg QCE in a single capsule.

Why it matters: the compounds that do the work, beta-glucans, hericenones, triterpenes, are a small fraction of a large, fibrous organism. Concentration is how a single daily capsule ends up carrying a meaningful amount of them, in a form your body can actually use. Our concentrated extracts are 8 to 16 times more concentrated than a 1:1 extract, and we price them so that this kind of potency stays within everyone's reach. For a closer look at the difference in practice, read Lion's mane 1:1 vs 8:1 extracts.

Fruiting bodies only

A mushroom has two parts: the mycelium, the root-like network underground or inside the wood, and the fruiting body, the mushroom you would recognize. Most of the research on functional mushrooms was done on fruiting bodies, and for good reason. Analytical studies find higher beta-glucan levels in fruiting bodies than in mycelium grown on grain [1], and the grain itself shows up in mycelium products as starch, an alpha-glucan that has no place in a mushroom extract [2]. For lion's mane specifically, the hericenones, the compounds studied in cell research for their effect on nerve growth factor production, were isolated from the fruiting body [3]; the mycelium makes a different family, the erinacines [4].

Every Purana product is made from 100% fruiting bodies. No mycelium, no grain, no fillers. We wrote more about this in Fruiting body vs full spectrum.

Dual extraction

Mushroom compounds come in two families. The water-soluble polysaccharides come out in hot water. The alcohol-soluble small molecules, hericenones, triterpenes and sterols, do not; they need an alcohol pass. Our concentrated extracts are dual extracted, in water and organic grain alcohol, so both families arrive in the capsule. Our 1:1 lion's mane is hot-water extracted, which is the right method when beta-glucans are the point. Mushrooms: how and why are they extracted? tells the full story.

Organic, non-GMO, vegan, GMP, licensed

Every formula uses organic, non-GMO ingredients in a vegan capsule, made in a GMP-certified facility. Each carries its own Natural Product Number from Health Canada, which you will find on the label and on the product page. The licence sets the dose and the wording we are permitted to use, and we keep to it.

What is inside each formula

The common thread across all of them is the polysaccharide family, beta-glucans above all, which reviews describe as prebiotic fibre for the gut microbiome and a well-studied trainer of the gut's immune tissue [5]. Each formula is licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties. Beyond that shared foundation, each mushroom brings its own chemistry.

Lion's mane 1:1 (capsules and powder)

• Lion's mane 1:1 capsules and lion's mane 1:1 powder: 100% fruiting body, hot-water extracted, standardized to 25% polysaccharides.
• Contains hericenones and uridine alongside the beta-glucans.
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties; the powder is also licensed as a source of antioxidants that help protect cells against free radicals.
• The research: in healthy older adults, twelve weeks of lion's mane fruiting body improved cognitive test scores versus placebo [6]; four weeks lowered anxiety and irritability questionnaire scores in women [7].

Lion's mane 8:1

• Lion's mane 8:1 capsules: 100% fruiting body, dual extracted, 2,800 mg QCE per capsule.
• Eight times the concentration of hericenones, uridine and beta-glucans compared with a 1:1 extract; dual extraction is what carries the alcohol-soluble hericenones into the capsule.
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties.
• The research: hericenones stimulate nerve growth factor synthesis in cell studies [3] [8]; uridine together with DHA raised synaptic proteins in animal studies [9]; a single dose of lion's mane sped up a cognitive processing task in healthy young adults [10].

Turkey tail 8:1

• Turkey tail 8:1 capsules: 100% fruiting body, dual extracted, 4,000 mg QCE, standardized to 40% polysaccharides (alpha-glucans and beta-glucans).
• Contains the protein-bound polysaccharides PSK and PSP, plus phenolic antioxidants such as quercetin.
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties.
• The research: PSP acted as a prebiotic in a randomized trial in healthy volunteers, beneficially shifting the gut microbiome [11]; PSK has decades of research behind it in Japan [12].

Reishi 16:1

• Reishi 16:1 capsules: 100% fruiting body, dual extracted, 6,000 mg QCE; our most concentrated extract.
• Contains triterpenes (the ganoderic acids), ganoderan polysaccharides, and the nucleosides adenosine, guanosine and uridine [13].
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties and a source of antioxidants; used in herbal medicine as an adaptogen to help increase energy and resistance to stress (in case of mental and physical fatigue related to stress), as a liver tonic, and to support the immune system.
• The research: in an eight-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial, a reishi polysaccharide extract improved fatigue and wellbeing scores in adults with persistent stress-related fatigue [14].

Cordyceps 10:1

• Cordyceps 10:1 capsules: 100% fruiting body (Cordyceps militaris), dual extracted, 3,125 mg QCE, with 125 mg of lion's mane 1:1.
• Contains cordycepin and adenosine, supporting nucleosides, polysaccharides, sterols and the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase [15].
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties.
• The research: in healthy adults aged 50 to 75, twelve weeks of a cordyceps extract improved metabolic and ventilatory thresholds [16]; in healthy young adults, three weeks of a Cordyceps militaris blend raised VO2max and time to exhaustion [17].

Immune complex

• Immune complex: five concentrated fruiting-body extracts, reishi, turkey tail, chaga, maitake and shiitake, dual extracted.
• Contains beta-D-glucans, maitake's D-fraction, chaga's superoxide dismutase, and naturally occurring vitamin D2 from chaga.
• Licensed as a source of fungal polysaccharides with immunomodulating properties and a source of antioxidants.
• The research: four weeks of daily shiitake improved markers of immune cell function in healthy young adults [18]; chaga extract reduced oxidative damage to DNA in human blood cells in the laboratory [19]; the reishi and turkey tail studies above apply to their share of the formula.

How to choose

Start with the moment of the day you want to build a habit around. Morning at the kettle: lion's mane, capsules or the powder stirred into a latte. Before you train or walk: cordyceps. Evening: reishi. Every day, quietly: turkey tail or immune complex. Whichever you pick, take it with food, and give it thirty to sixty days before you decide what it does for you. That is not a sales line. It is how the biology works.

References

1. Bak WC, Park JH, Park YA, Ka KH. Determination of glucan contents in the fruiting bodies and mycelia of Lentinula edodes cultivars. Mycobiology. 2014;42(3):301-304. [Analytical] PubMed
2. McCleary BV, Draga A. Measurement of beta-glucan in mushrooms and mycelial products. Journal of AOAC International. 2016;99(2):364-373. [Analytical] PubMed
3. Kawagishi H, Ando M, Sakamoto H, et al. Hericenones C, D and E, stimulators of nerve growth factor (NGF)-synthesis, from the mushroom Hericium erinaceum. Tetrahedron Letters. 1991;32(35):4561-4564. [Preclinical] DOI
4. Kawagishi H, Shimada A, Shirai R, et al. Erinacines A, B and C, strong stimulators of nerve growth factor (NGF)-synthesis, from the mycelia of Hericium erinaceum. Tetrahedron Letters. 1994;35(10):1569-1572. [Preclinical] DOI
5. Jayachandran M, Xiao J, Xu B. A critical review on health promoting benefits of edible mushrooms through gut microbiota. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017;18(9):1934. [Review] PubMed
6. Saitsu Y, Nishide A, Kikushima K, Shimizu K, Ohnuki K. Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus. Biomedical Research. 2019;40(4):125-131. [Human RCT] PubMed
7. Nagano M, Shimizu K, Kondo R, et al. Reduction of depression and anxiety by 4 weeks Hericium erinaceus intake. Biomedical Research. 2010;31(4):231-237. [Human RCT] PubMed
8. Mori K, Obara Y, Hirota M, et al. Nerve growth factor-inducing activity of Hericium erinaceus in 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 2008;31(9):1727-1732. [Preclinical, human cells] PubMed
9. Wurtman RJ, Ulus IH, Cansev M, Watkins CJ, Wang L, Marzloff G. Synaptic proteins and phospholipids are increased in gerbil brain by administering uridine plus docosahexaenoic acid orally. Brain Research. 2006;1088(1):83-92. [Preclinical, gerbil] PubMed
10. Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. The acute and chronic effects of lion's mane mushroom supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young adults: a double-blind, parallel groups, pilot study. Nutrients. 2023;15(22):4842. [Human RCT] PubMed
11. Pallav K, Dowd SE, Villafuerte J, et al. Effects of polysaccharopeptide from Trametes versicolor and amoxicillin on the gut microbiome of healthy volunteers: a randomized clinical trial. Gut Microbes. 2014;5(4):458-467. [Human RCT] PubMed
12. Maehara Y, Tsujitani S, Saeki H, et al. Biological mechanism and clinical effect of protein-bound polysaccharide K (KRESTIN): review of development and future perspectives. Surgery Today. 2012;42(1):8-28. [Review] PubMed
13. Boh B, Berovic M, Zhang J, Zhi-Bin L. Ganoderma lucidum and its pharmaceutically active compounds. Biotechnology Annual Review. 2007;13:265-301. [Review] PubMed
14. Tang W, Gao Y, Chen G, et al. A randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of a Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide extract in neurasthenia. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2005;8(1):53-58. [Human RCT] PubMed
15. Tuli HS, Sandhu SS, Sharma AK. Pharmacological and therapeutic potential of Cordyceps with special reference to cordycepin. 3 Biotech. 2014;4(1):1-12. [Review] PubMed
16. Chen S, Li Z, Krochmal R, Abrazado M, Kim W, Cooper CB. Effect of Cs-4 (Cordyceps sinensis) on exercise performance in healthy older subjects: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2010;16(5):585-590. [Human RCT] PubMed
17. Hirsch KR, Smith-Ryan AE, Roelofs EJ, Trexler ET, Mock MG. Cordyceps militaris improves tolerance to high-intensity exercise after acute and chronic supplementation. Journal of Dietary Supplements. 2017;14(1):42-53. [Human RCT] PubMed
18. Dai X, Stanilka JM, Rowe CA, et al. Consuming Lentinula edodes (shiitake) mushrooms daily improves human immunity: a randomized dietary intervention in healthy young adults. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2015;34(6):478-487. [Human RCT] PubMed
19. Park YK, Lee HB, Jeon EJ, Jung HS, Kang MH. Chaga mushroom extract inhibits oxidative DNA damage in human lymphocytes as assessed by comet assay. BioFactors. 2004;21(1-4):109-112. [Preclinical, human cells] PubMed

Disclaimer

This article is for education only and is not medical advice. Purana products are natural health products licensed by Health Canada; they are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk with your healthcare practitioner before starting any supplement, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, taking medication, or managing a health condition.