In the past few years, there has been much discussion in the supplements and nutraceuticals industry about which part of a species of medicinal fungi provides the best nutritional and medicinal value. Is it the mushroom fruit bodies, or the mycelium? 

Dennis Desjardin, PhD, Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University and Chief Mycologist at Sempera Organics, has surveyed the research on this issue and concludes that the “either/or” debate itself is misguided: both components of the functional fungi produce compounds of nutritional and medicinal value. According to Dejardin: “It is important to understand the contributions of both structures to health and well-being.”

After analyzing recent research and providing detailed case studies of 8 different species of functional mushrooms, Dejardin shows that key bioactive compounds are contained in similar concentrations in both the mushroom fruit body and the mycelium. Dejardin’s detailed paper on this topic is available at this link.