ß-glucans

ß-glucans are β-D-glucose polysaccharides units which make up the structure of cellulose polysaccharides.

Mushrooms supply high quality ß-glucans. Due to the medicinal importance of ß-glucans it is imperative that the quantity be documented on the product label of any functional food or medicinal mushroom product.

 

Glucans

Glucans are polysaccharides of D-glucose monomers, linked by glycosidic bonds.
Glucans are separated into two groups: ß-glucans (beta-glucans) and α-glucans (alpha-glucans).

 

α-glucans X

α-glucans are α-D-glucose units that make up the structure of polysaccharides starch.

Mushrooms are naturally low in α-glucans and a high testing of α-glucans is indicative of fillers such as rice, wheat, corn or other starch derivatives. These fillers are cheap to produce, add bulk and reduce medicinal value by weight.

α-glucans must be listed on Certificates of Analysis.

Foreign carriers have no place in a Pure Mushroom medicinal or functional food product.

 


Glucans
|          |
ß-glucans        α-glucans


 

Summary

The significant medicinal mushroom ß-glucans values must be specifically listed on labels and not catchall terms such as Glucans or Polysaccharides. The addition listing of α-glucans is not necessary IOL and may lead to confusion. The goal is to standardize medicinal mushrooms on the priority medicinal compounds and holistic structure.

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