Commercial Sample Identification and Characterization Challenges in Medicinal Mushroom Research.

A recent study published in this journal demonstrates the pitfalls faced by researchers who utilize commercial products as their test samples without proper characterization. Labeling of commercial mushroom products is often incorrect, which can lead to erroneous interpretations and conclusions. Nine of the 10 samples of commercially branded products used in the study and identified as ground mushrooms were actually grain spawn: mycelium propagated on grain.

Chemical constituents of Ganoderma applanatum of British Columbia forests.

A new compound, ganoderma aldehyde (1),was isolated from the fruiting body of Ganoderma applanatum. Its structure was elucidated on the basis of one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR as well as MS spectroscopic analysis.