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ucsdmolpath
Stranger
Registered: 12/26/03
Posts: 19
Last seen: 19 years, 3 months
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red vs. black reishi (lucidum vs. sinense?)
#2528875 - 04/05/04 06:35 PM (19 years, 9 months ago) |
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hi everyone,
i was wondering if anyone knew if there is any published biochemical distinction between medical uses and benefits of red and black reishi.
from what i have found on the web so far, i have found (please correct me if i'm wrong) that red reishi= lucidum, while black reishi=sinense.
i'm just trying to see if there is some sort of reliable biochemical/biomedical resource on the difference between anti-cancer and immunostimulant properties of these two different types. i was searching through pubmed.gov, and it's mostly red reishi studies...
also, for preparing reishi in a tea/soup, is there a threshold for "overcooking" (e.g., boiling too high heat, too long, etc) which may inactivate otherwise biochemically active components? i have read a bit about the thermal stability of reishi proteins, but don't know about the rest of the mushroom...
any insight would be greatly appreciated. thanks!
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r05c03
The Slug Scourge
Registered: 01/06/02
Posts: 383
Loc: Indiana, US
Last seen: 18 years, 9 months
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Re: red vs. black reishi (lucidum vs. sinense?) [Re: ucsdmolpath]
#2529334 - 04/05/04 08:47 PM (19 years, 9 months ago) |
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Check out Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, and Culture, by Christopher Hobbs. That will direct you to more of the specific research you are looking for.
You will always find someone willing to argue and nitpick over species names and generally color is not a reliable means by which to name a species, but chinese medicine does differentiate between red and black varieties.
-------------------- Listen! Do you smell something?
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ucsdmolpath
Stranger
Registered: 12/26/03
Posts: 19
Last seen: 19 years, 3 months
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Re: red vs. black reishi (lucidum vs. sinense?) [Re: r05c03]
#2530409 - 04/06/04 01:56 AM (19 years, 9 months ago) |
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thanks for the response!
the reason for this post is actually that i was a little confused when i went shopping this weekend. i was fortunate enough to find the "cosco" equivalent of stores for chinese medicine up in LA. when i got there, i was shocked to find that reishi was being sold as cheaply as it was...red reishi was $12.99/lb, and black was something like $11.99/lb........they sell whole dried mushrooms...
what i ended up buying was a big box of black reishi slices for $10....however, while the reishi was black in color, it was still labelled as "ganoderma lucidum"....i know that lucidum also can develop to black color, but i wasn't sure as to whether it was mislabelled or something...of course...the store is completely chinese, and while i am chinese and can speak fine, there was no distinction between lucidum and sinense there.....
anyway, thanks for the info
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Suntzu
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Registered: 10/14/99
Posts: 1,396
Last seen: 3 months, 5 days
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Re: red vs. black reishi (lucidum vs. sinense?) [Re: ucsdmolpath]
#2530885 - 04/06/04 08:52 AM (19 years, 9 months ago) |
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I have Hobbs' book, and I'm not sure if I read this there or elsewhere. . .that other Ganoderma have been shown to have similar biochemical/medicinal properties. Most research is done on lucidum, as it is the predominantly cultivated one. From personal experience, Tsugae Tea tastes exactly the same as Reishi Tea  If the different species have the same medicinal value, it should hold true that the 'cultivars' of lucidum do as well. Once in Chinatown I saw these cracked-capped shiitake [they called them 'star forms' or something] were selling for a few bucks more per pound than normal shiitake. I thought the humidity had gotten a little too low! Aesthetics do play a role. . .
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ucsdmolpath
Stranger
Registered: 12/26/03
Posts: 19
Last seen: 19 years, 3 months
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Re: red vs. black reishi (lucidum vs. sinense?) [Re: Suntzu]
#2580085 - 04/19/04 09:27 PM (19 years, 9 months ago) |
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heh....i think humidity is what you're paying for in that case :P though there are several different grades of shiitake, i'm not sure how they differentiate...
in any case, i tried brewing tea from the black "lucidum" i bought, and it isn't nearly half as bitter as the red lucidum that i found...strange...but then again i cooked the lucidum chunks in a porcelin ginseng jar (like double boiler for 3 hours), while the other black lucidum was cut into tiny tiny particles and just boiled briefly in a teapot....for a few minutes....i just figured the small particles would extract faster than big chunks...
anyway cheers
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