B2B B2B A short glossary of 16 terms we use in commercial conversations. If you work in R&D, procurement or product development at a food, cosmetic or supplement brand — this is the baseline we start every conversation from.
What you actually buy — the physical material entering your product.
The visible part of the mushroom — cap and stem.
The fruiting body is the mature reproductive part of the fungus, growing on wood or substrate and producing spores. β-glucans, triterpenes and other bioactive compounds concentrate here. Fruiting body extracts are the standard in scientific literature and in the Japanese and Chinese pharmacopoeias for licensed mushroom drugs (lentinan from Shiitake, PSK from Coriolus).
Immature mycelium grown on rice or sorghum.
Material produced by fermenting grain (typically brown rice, sorghum or millet) with mycelium. The end product typically contains 70-90% undigested grain and 10-30% mycelium. Mycelium-on-grain extracts have lower β-glucan content than fruiting-body extracts and remain controversial in the scientific community. Aloha Fungi does NOT use this material.
Fruiting body on logs in natural-climate conditions.
Cultivation as close as possible to the natural habitat of the species: oak/pine/mulberry logs, climate-controlled rooms with monitored humidity and temperature, no artificial growth accelerators. Cultivation cycle is typically 6-18 months (vs 30-60 days in industrial cultivation on finely-milled substrate).
Guaranteed minimum level of a bioactive marker.
A percentage minimum of a key marker in the finished extract: e.g. 'standardized to 30% β-glucans (Megazyme K-YBGL method)' means EVERY batch contains at least 30% β-glucans measured by this specific enzymatic method. Without the method declared, standardization is unverifiable — different methods produce different results from the same sample.
How the raw material becomes a finished powder.
80-95°C for 4-12h, pulls polysaccharides.
The standard method for mushroom polysaccharides. Hot water extraction pulls water-soluble β-glucans, polysaccharides and glycoproteins. This is the method used in registered mushroom drugs in Japan and China. It does NOT pull triterpenes (which are alcohol-soluble).
Water + ethanol — captures both polysaccharides and triterpenes.
Two sequential extractions: hot water (polysaccharides) and ethyl alcohol (triterpenes). The fractions are then combined and dried. Dual extract delivers a fuller profile for species whose activity splits across both fractions — e.g. Reishi (β-glucans + ganoderic acids), Chaga (β-glucans + betulin).
How many kg of raw material yielded 1 kg of extract.
A 10:1 ratio means 10 kg of fruiting body produced 1 kg of finished powder after extraction. It's a concentration indicator, but WITHOUT standardization information it tells you nothing about quality — you can have a 10:1 ratio with 5% β-glucans or a 4:1 ratio with 40% β-glucans. Counting ratio without standardization is counting volume without knowing the composition.
Maltodextrin, rice malt — sometimes technologically necessary.
A substance added to a thick extract to produce a flowable powder. Most often maltodextrin (10-30%) or rice fiber. The carrier can be technologically NECESSARY (the extract itself is hygroscopic and sticky), but it becomes a problem when it exceeds 20% — at that point you're not selling extract, you're selling a mixture. The COA should explicitly state carrier percentage.
Documents and methods used to verify a batch.
Laboratory document for every batch of raw material.
A certificate listing the chemical, microbiological and quality parameters of a batch: pesticides, heavy metals, microbiology, β-glucans, polysaccharides. The COA is issued by an accredited laboratory for EACH batch (not annually for all). At Aloha Fungi a COA is standard — delivered with every batch and available for review before purchase.
Reference method for heavy metals.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry — the most accurate available method for measuring heavy metals. It quantifies lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury in extracts at ppb (parts per billion) level. Required by EU Pharmacopoeia for food and pharmaceutical products. Cheaper labs use AAS — acceptable in some contexts, but ICP-MS is the gold standard.
500+ pesticide compounds tested in one run.
A multi-residue panel covers 500-700 of the most common pesticides (fungicides, insecticides, herbicides) measured in a single LC-MS/MS or GC-MS/MS run. Aloha Fungi routinely tests >500 parameters per batch. Cheaper panels (50-100 compounds) are insufficient for Asian raw materials, where pesticide regulations differ from the EU.
EU microbiological and quality standards for pharma/food.
The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) is the official set of monographs defining quality requirements for pharmaceutical and food raw materials in the EU. For mushroom extracts the key monographs are microbiological (TAMC, TYMC, E. coli, Salmonella), heavy-metal limits and pesticide limits. Meeting EU Pharmacopoeia is the minimum for a raw material entering food or supplement production in the EU.
What you can say about your product, and what you cannot.
An ingredient without an EU consumption history before 1997.
Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 requires a separate authorization for ingredients not consumed in the EU before 15 May 1997. Reishi, Lion's Mane, Chaga, Shiitake all have consumption history and are NOT Novel Food. Coriolus (Trametes versicolor) in certain forms has Novel Food status in the EU and requires a separate procedure. Per-species Novel Food status is on the European Commission's EU Novel Food Catalogue.
List of permitted nutritional claims in the EU.
A register maintained by the European Commission under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Every health claim on packaging and in marketing materials must appear on this list. Most species-specific claims for functional mushrooms are NOT on the list — only very general formulas are usable. Consult a food-law attorney before publishing any labelling claims.
Working terms with a raw-material supplier.
The smallest batch a supplier will sell.
The minimum size of a single order. At Aloha Fungi the MOQ is 1 kg for most species of standard products. For custom blends or private label, MOQ is negotiated individually. MOQ is separate from the technological sample (50-100 g, free of charge for companies with an active VAT ID).
Time from order to delivery.
The time a supplier needs to fulfil an order: packaging, COA documentation, quality control, shipping. At Aloha Fungi the lead time for in-stock products is 2-4 weeks. For custom blends it's 6-12 weeks (brief → sample → approval → production). For private label, 6-8 weeks from approval of the graphic design.
Missing a term? Email b2b@alohafungi.com — we add it to the glossary and reply.