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At a glance
What these three actually are
Only one of the three names is dependable. Hericium erinaceus is a settled species, a wood-rotting tooth fungus grown on sawdust, and its open question is anatomical rather than taxonomic: hericenones C to H were isolated from fruiting bodies and erinacines A to I from mycelia, so the part used decides which compounds are there at all.
Reishi is a naming problem. Packs read Ganoderma lucidum, a name fixed to an 1881 collection, while the 2023 re-examination of the Ganoderma sichuanense holotype placed Chinese cultivated lingzhi in that species and reduced Ganoderma lingzhi to a later synonym. Cordyceps is a wider problem, because the pack often names the wrong genus. The 2007 revision moved the caterpillar fungus into Ophiocordyceps, and what is sold is cultivated Cordyceps militaris or Cs-4, a fermented biomass of Paecilomyces hepiali Chen.
So: three species and three failure modes. One where the part used goes unstated, one where the species is wrong, one where even the genus may be. That is the case for a three-column table, and why a single mushroom complex figure describes none of them.
Beta-glucans, and why the number on the label may not mean what you think
A single polysaccharide percentage cannot speak for three species, and frequently it speaks for none. Mycelium and fermentation biomass are raised on starch-rich cereal, and McCleary and Draga found that in mycelial products the bulk of the grain starch stays intact and becomes by far the major glucan in the finished goods. A crude polysaccharide assay counts that starch. The beta-glucan assay releases total glucan with acid, measures alpha-glucan on its own, and reports the remainder.
Alpha-glucan is the tell. Across 39 screened species, turkey tail fruiting bodies read 0.41 g alpha-glucan per 100 g dry matter against 60.79 g beta-glucan, and maitake 5.04 g against 25.99 g. A genuine fruiting body holds almost no starch, so a large polysaccharide figure with no alpha-glucan figure beside it is how this category misleads.
The three then part company on method. Reishi wants two solvents, ganoderic acids not leaving in water. Lion’s mane wants two for the same reason, its hericenones staying in the marc. Cordyceps wants one, its glucans and nucleosides all being water soluble. One assay cannot cover all three.
What the human evidence shows
One trial has given two of these three at once. Eighty-four adults took reishi, or reishi together with Cordyceps sinensis, at 3 g daily for 16 weeks, and nothing shifted. Against that, the positive readings here come from 30 and 20 participants. That is the real size of this evidence base.
What people get wrong
Choosing between them
Take one of the three and question it, rather than buying all three blended together. Lion’s mane has the most human trial data, and the question there is fruiting body or mycelium. Reishi has been tested at the largest scale and read flat, so take it for the ganoderic acids or leave it, and only as a dual extract. Cordyceps turns on which organism arrives, since both published exercise trials used Cs-4 rather than the militaris fruiting body now on shelves. For all three, ask for beta-glucan and alpha-glucan side by side.
Legal status and safety
No health claim for any of these three is authorised under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Nobody, ourselves included, may state or imply that lion’s mane, reishi or cordyceps acts on the body. Every figure on this page is a measurement or a published trial result, stated and left there.
Whether the material may be sold as a food at all is the prior question. Under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 as retained in UK law the test is significant human consumption before 15 May 1997, and the published status assessments divide these three unevenly.
Extract powder from the Hericium erinaceus fruiting body was found not novel, while the dehydrated mycelium of that species, and of Ganoderma lucidum, were each assessed as novel foods in October 2019. Cordyceps militaris was entered in the novel food status catalogue in 2025 as novel in both mycelium and fruiting body form, so that species needs authorisation before sale.
On safety, fatal fulminant hepatitis was reported in a patient who moved from boiled lingzhi to lingzhi powder for one to two months. High arsenic residues in wild Ophiocordyceps sinensis are recognised. None of the three has human safety data for pregnancy, breastfeeding or childhood.
How Endoca tests for this
Three species means three different things a certificate ought to carry, and ours carries some of them. Identity, heavy metals, pesticides and microbes are all tested across the range. Absent so far: a beta-glucan value reported apart from alpha-glucan, a ganoderic acid value for the reishi, and a species and part used on the cordyceps ingredient line. Listing what is missing beats implying it is covered. Hemp certificates come from our own farm, our own land and our own extraction, since 2010.
Frequently asked questions
Nothing published rules it out, and nothing suggests the three add up. The only trial to combine two of them gave reishi with Cordyceps sinensis to 84 adults across 16 weeks, and recorded no change in any outcome it measured.
Lion’s mane, on quantity rather than strength. There is a positive 16 week trial in 30 adults and a 49 week pilot in mild Alzheimer’s disease. Reishi has had the largest trials and they read flat. Cordyceps has two small exercise trials that contradict one another.
Cordyceps militaris, in both mycelium and fruiting body form, was entered as novel in 2025. Dehydrated mycelium of Hericium erinaceus and of Ganoderma lucidum were each assessed as novel in October 2019. Fruiting body extract powder of Hericium erinaceus was found not novel.
Because the target compounds differ in solubility. Hot water releases beta-glucans from all three. Reishi needs alcohol as well, for its ganoderic acids, and lion’s mane needs alcohol for its hericenones. Cordyceps needs nothing further, its nucleosides being water soluble.
References
Mori K, Inatomi S, Ouchi K, Azumi Y, Tuchida T. Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytother Res. 2009;23(3):367-372.
Li IC, Chang HH, Lin CH, et al. Prevention of early Alzheimer’s disease by erinacine A-enriched Hericium erinaceus mycelia pilot double-blind placebo-controlled study. Front Aging Neurosci. 2020;12:155.
Wang J, Wu J, Yamaguchi R, et al. Uncovering hericenones from the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus through interdisciplinary collaboration. J Nat Prod. 2025;88(1):80-85.
Du Z, Li Y, Wang XC, Wang K, Yao YJ. Re-examination of the holotype of Ganoderma sichuanense (Ganodermataceae, Polyporales) and a clarification of the identity of Chinese cultivated lingzhi. J Fungi (Basel). 2023;9(3):323.
Klupp NL, Chang D, Hawke F, et al. Ganoderma lucidum mushroom for the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(2):CD007259.
Klupp NL, Kiat H, Bensoussan A, Steiner GZ, Chang DH. A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of Ganoderma lucidum for the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome. Sci Rep. 2016;6:29540.
Sung GH, Hywel-Jones NL, Sung JM, Luangsa-Ard JJ, Shrestha B, Spatafora JW. Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi. Stud Mycol. 2007;57:5-59.
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. J Altern Complement Med. 2010;16(5):585-590.
Parcell AC, Smith JM, Schulthies SS, Myrer JW, Fellingham G. Cordyceps sinensis (CordyMax Cs-4) supplementation does not improve endurance exercise performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2004;14(2):236-242.
McCleary BV, Draga A. Measurement of beta-glucan in mushrooms and mycelial products. J AOAC Int. 2016;99(2):364-373.
Novel food status catalogue entry POL-NF-09242: Cordyceps militaris (L.) mycelium and fruiting body, 2025; AESAN status assessments on Hericium erinaceus and Ganoderma lucidum dehydrated mycelium powders, 29 October 2019.
Last reviewed 1 October 2026.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.