The Mushroom Blog: Everything You Need to Know About Powders, Extracts, and Tinctures

The mushroom blog that finally explains it all…

Why fruiting body mushrooms matter

Mushrooms contain carbohydrates (including beta-glucans), amino acids, B-vitamins, trace minerals, and antioxidant compounds. However, absorption and assimilation by the canine digestive system will depend on the format in which they are produced.

To make matters more confusing, not all mushroom ingredients come from the same part of the organism, and this distinction is often overlooked. The fruiting body is the visible mushroom that grows above ground - the part traditionally consumed as food and the part most commonly studied and referenced in nutritional and scientific literature. It naturally contains the structural and nutritional components people associate with mushrooms.

By contrast, some mushroom ingredients are produced from mycelium grown on grain, where the final material may include a significant proportion of residual substrate rather than mushroom tissue itself. While this approach can be faster and cheaper to produce, it results in an ingredient that is fundamentally different in composition from a true fruiting body mushroom.

Using fruiting body ingredients ensures that the material being extracted or powdered is, in fact, mushroom — not grain, filler, or undeclared growth medium. For formulations where clarity, transparency, and ingredient integrity matter, fruiting bodies provide a more consistent and representative source of mushroom material, aligning with what most people expect when they see a mushroom listed on a label.

Why mushroom ingredients aren’t as simple as the label suggests

Not all mushroom powders and tinctures are created equal, and some aren’t really powders or tinctures in the way most people assume. Two products can list the same mushroom on the label and still contain very different forms of that ingredient. The difference isn’t just about how it is grown or the species. It’s the processing.

Whole mushroom powders, mushroom extract powders, and liquid tinctures may all start with the same mushroom, but they are produced in completely different ways. What ends up in the final product can vary dramatically as a result. Understanding those differences helps cut through a lot of confusion, and a surprising amount of marketing noise.

What matters when choosing a mushroom ingredient or supplement

Ingredient lists rarely explain how something was processed and yet with mushrooms, that missing information can matter more than the name on the label.

Understanding the difference between whole mushroom powders, mushroom extract powders, whole mushroom tinctures and whole mushroom extract tinctures helps separate genuine formulation decisions from marketing language. Once you understand the process, it becomes much easier to see why two products that look similar on paper may be very different in reality.

Mushroom powders and tinctures… what’s the difference?

Mushrooms are increasingly used as ingredients in dog foods and wholefood supplements. While labels often look similar, the form of the mushroom ingredient determines what is physically present in the finished product.

The most common formats are:
•    Whole mushroom powders
•    Mushroom extract powders
•    Whole mushroom liquid tinctures
•    Mushroom extract liquid tinctures

Although these formats are often discussed interchangeably, they are not interchangeable from a manufacturing, formulation or bioavailability perspective.

 

Whole mushroom powders: intact structure, low nutrient availability

A whole mushroom powder is produced by drying the mushroom and grinding it into a fine powder, with the entire mushroom structure left intact. This means the nutrients within the mushroom remain enclosed inside chitin-rich cell walls - a tough, insoluble fibre that mammals do not digest efficiently.

While whole mushroom powders do contain nutrients, many of those nutrients are poorly bioavailable because they remain physically locked inside the cell wall matrix. In practical terms, this limits how much of the mushroom’s nutritional content can be released and absorbed during digestion. As a result, whole mushroom powders behave much like other fibrous plant materials: nutritionally present on paper, but only partially accessible to the body.

In the wild, dogs and other canids consume whole prey animals, including the stomach and intestinal contents of herbivores and omnivores. These prey animals have already partially broken down plant and fungal matter through their own digestive processes, making certain nutrients more bioavailable than if those foods were eaten raw and whole.

In this way, wild dogs may gain indirect exposure to compounds from plants and fungi such as those found in mushrooms, without needing to digest tough structures like chitin themselves. This natural “pre-processing” by prey helps illustrate why, in a modern context, extraction is used to make similar compounds more accessible for dogs today as the animals they consume are not always exposed to the same wild plant matter throughout their lives. You can read more about that here:
Why Every Dog Benefits From Supplements | Even If You Are Feeding A Healthy Diet

Mushroom extract powders: broken cell walls, high bioavailability

Mushroom extract powders undergo an extraction process specifically designed to break down the chitin cell walls and release the mushroom’s nutrients into a form the body can absorb and assimilate. During extraction, mushrooms are exposed to hot water, alcohol, or a combination of both, which solubilises key nutrients and separates them from the indigestible fibre.

The liquid extract is then concentrated and dried back into a powder, leaving behind extracted mushroom solids without the bulk of the insoluble fibre. Because the nutrients are no longer trapped inside intact cell walls, mushroom extract powders are far more bioavailable than whole mushroom powders. In other words, a much higher proportion of the nutrients present are accessible and absorbable by the body.

This is why mushroom extracts are widely recognised as nutritionally superior to raw mushroom powders - not because they contain different nutrients, but because the nutrients are more bioavailable.

It’s also worth clarifying the role of alcohol in the extraction process, as this is a common point of confusion. In some cases, alcohol is used as a processing solvent during extraction to separate certain naturally occurring mushroom constituents. However, when the goal is a dried mushroom extract powder, the liquid phase is completely removed during concentration and drying. Because alcohol is volatile, it evaporates during this stage and does not remain in the finished powder. In properly manufactured extract powders, alcohol is not present as an ingredient and the final product consists of the extracted mushroom solids only.

 

Structure determines absorption

The difference between whole mushroom powders and mushroom extract powders is not marketing, and it’s not subtle, it’s structural. Whole powders retain the mushroom exactly as it grows, including the indigestible components that limit nutrient release. Extract powders remove that barrier, delivering nutrients in a form the digestive system can readily access. In effect, mushroom extract powders pack more of a nutritional punch than whole mushroom powders.

Both formats come from the same mushroom. The difference is whether the nutrients remain locked inside the mushroom’s natural armour or whether they’ve been unlocked through extraction.

From a formulation perspective, non-extract mushroom powders are frequently selected over whole mushroom powders because they cost less to produce.

Liquid mushroom tinctures: two very different approaches

Liquid mushroom tinctures are a format, not a single standardised process and this is where much of the confusion arises. Broadly speaking, there are two different ways liquid mushroom tinctures are made, even though they are often marketed under the same name.

In the first and most common approach, liquid tinctures are made by soaking whole mushrooms or mushroom powders in water, alcohol, glycerine, or a combination of these solvents. The extraction occurs within the liquid itself over time, and the resulting tincture reflects whatever amount of mushroom material the solvent can draw into solution. In this case, the tincture is not made from an extract powder. It is a liquid preparation derived directly from whole mushroom material.

In the second approach, liquid tinctures are made using pre-extracted mushroom material, either as a concentrated liquid extract that is never dried, or by dissolving a dried mushroom extract powder back into a liquid carrier. In this scenario, the tincture is genuinely extract-based, and the concentration can be more clearly defined.

In both cases, the liquid itself is the finished product, meaning the carrier (water, alcohol, or glycerine) remains a significant component of the final formulation. This distinction matters, because two tinctures can look identical on the shelf while being produced from very different starting materials. Without clear disclosure, it’s easy for a mushroom powder-based tincture to be assumed incorrectly as being equivalent to one made from a true mushroom extract.

Summary

While the four variations may all originate from the same mushrooms, they differ fundamentally in how accessible their nutrients are once consumed.

Whole mushroom powders retain the mushroom’s intact chitin-rich cell walls, meaning much of the nutritional content remains physically locked away and only partially available during digestion.

Mushroom extract powders, by contrast, have those structural barriers removed through extraction, leaving concentrated mushroom solids in a form that is far more nutritionally bioavailable and readily absorbed.

Liquid tinctures add another layer of variation: some are made by extracting directly from whole mushroom material, while others are produced from true mushroom extracts, yet all retain a liquid carrier that limits overall concentration.

Ultimately, the key differences lie in structure and processing, which determine how much of a mushroom’s nutrients can be absorbed and assimilated.

 

Why powders and tinctures are not equal

While widely used, liquids differ from powders in several practical ways.

Liquids are predominantly carrier (water, alcohol, or glycerine), which limits how much mushroom material can be present per feed. Most commercially available tincture products contain roughly 80% water and less than 5% mushroom. Such low concentrations often aren’t sufficient to achieve meaningful effects, especially when using mushroom powders rather than extracts. Powders, by contrast, contain the dried solids only, without dilution. Powders also tend to be more stable during storage and allow for precise weight-based measurement - a feature often preferred in food formulations.

In simple terms, one teaspoon of powder contains far more mushroom than a teaspoon of liquid tincture. This means that the better absorption rate associated with tincture delivery method is outperformed by the sheer amount of actual mushroom in powder form.

For these reasons, dried extract powders are commonly chosen where consistency, shelf stability, and formulation clarity matter. These are practical considerations, not value judgements. They simply reflect how different formats behave in food-based products.

 

A note on liquid extracts

Different mushroom formats exist for a reason, and liquid extracts have long been used and valued in many traditions. Choosing extract powders is not a criticism of liquids but rather a formulation preference.

Liquids suit some people or animals for some applications. My choice reflects a focus on concentration control, stability, and consistency, rather than suggesting that other formats are wrong or without merit.

Single extraction, dual extraction, ratios and marketing gimmicks

Extraction is another area where confusion is common. Single extraction and dual extraction are not interchangeable by default, and not every mushroom benefits from dual extraction.

Certain mushroom compounds exhibit water solubility, while others are soluble in alcohol.  In certain species, a dual extraction makes sense. In others, a single extraction is sufficient because there is nothing further to gain through a second extraction process and it is purely listed to bolster its appearance for marketing purposes. Little Universe® clearly outlines where single and dual-extraction methods were used.

The ratio for each mushroom listed on the Little Universe® label correlates with the most advanced extraction processes currently available. For example, Turkey Tail is listed as 12:1 which means 12kg of mushrooms are used to produce 1kg of mushroom extract powder.  It reflects a more efficient, modern extraction process rather than a lower concentration. When you see methods requiring more mushrooms to produce the same amount of extract powder as what is listed on Little Universe®, it is safe to assume that it indicates older or less efficient methods that require more raw material to achieve the same extracted solids.

You can use the ingredients list as a guide to compare and determine if another mushroom product you are considering is made using the best extraction method and if dual extraction is a marketing gimmick.

Why the Little Universe® mushroom blend took three years to release

When I finally decided to bring an Augustine Approved mushroom supplement to market, I genuinely thought it would be straightforward and easy to source the very highest quality mushroom extract powders in the world. It wasn’t. It took close to three years of on and off research and back and forth sampling and testing involving many potential growers and suppliers.

Much like what I had already seen in the zeolite industry, the mushroom space turned out to be crowded with bold statements, loose terminology, and far too much smoke and mirrors. Everyone seemed to have the “best” mushrooms, yet when you looked closely, many products described as “extracts” hadn’t been properly extracted at all, and key details around sourcing, processing, and concentration were often unclear or missing entirely.

In hindsight, my biggest regret is not starting sooner. I wish this level of scrutiny and understanding had been applied years earlier when Augustine was still alive so that she could have benefited from Little Universe®. That regret is exactly why this product was developed slowly and deliberately: not rushed, not built on marketing language, but grounded in a clear understanding of what was being used and how it was prepared.

Should I use a single mushroom ingredient or a mushroom blend like Little Universe®?

With so much current discussion around individual mushrooms - particularly Turkey Tail, it’s understandable that people ask whether they should be using a standalone Turkey Tail product instead of a blended formulation like Little Universe®.

The key thing to understand is that Little Universe® was deliberately formulated using high-quality, concentrated mushroom ingredients, including Turkey Tail, alongside several complementary species, rather than relying on a single mushroom alone. Because of that, many people find there is no practical need to add a separate Turkey Tail product or automatically increase feeding amounts.

With that said, you may still choose to adjust or layer products based on your own preferences or peace of mind. Little Universe® was designed to be flexible in that way - without requiring duplication unless someone specifically chooses to do so. In my humble opinion, you can double the amount of Little Universe® you feed but it can also be overdoing it.

 

What should I look out for when selecting a quality mushroom supplement?

Those familiar with the benefits of mushrooms look for a high Beta-Glucan content as a sign of quality. The ACTIVE Beta-Glucan content of our mushroom extract ingredients ranges from 10% - 40% and we claim that the overall ACTIVE Beta-Glucan content of Little Universe® is 16.25%.  

Unfortunately, the body cannot absorb the Beta-Glucans from powders well at all and our world-class extraction process is an integral part of making the true benefits of mushrooms bioavailable.

Interestingly, powders will lab-test much higher than extract powders for Beta-Glucans so a common practise is to use mushroom powders while claiming that they are extract powders. This has caused a lot of confusion in the market as it can give a false impression of quality and expected benefits.

While our listed overall Beta-Glucan level of 16.25% may appear low, we are stating the ACTIVE Beta-Glucans as it is an honest and genuine representation and is in fact high for an organically grown and non-synthetic powder.

Additionally, does the product pass the smell test? A good quality mushroom extract powder has a potent and strong mushroom smell that can be sniffed from afar when you break the safety seal on the tub.

 

Conclusion

Ultimately, this discussion isn’t about declaring one mushroom format “good” and another “bad” - it’s about understanding what sits behind the label. With mushrooms, processing matters. Form matters. And clarity matters. Understanding how whole powders, extract powders, and liquid tinctures are made helps us look past marketing and identify what's actually in each product and its form.  That transparency is what guided the development of Little Universe®, and it’s why I believe informed choices start not with bold claims, but with a clear explanation of the ingredients themselves.