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Shiitakeextract · powder
Shiitake is the easiest mushroom to start with on your functional-mushroom journey, because it is familiar from the kitchen.
Especially recommended to start with and for calm, everyday support, with no specific time of day.
50% extract + 50% fruiting body powder
In stock
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A 30-day ritual. Your pack arrives automatically. Cancel anytime.
2 pcs −4%, 3+ pcs −8%
50% dual 10:1 extract from Shiitake fruiting bodies (Lentinula edodes), 50% powdered fruiting body from the same source. Standardisation: a minimum of 30% beta-glucans in the extract. Capsule shell: plant-based (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose). No maltodextrin or other carriers. Gluten-free, soy-free, vegan. Pack: 90 capsules.
Shiitake has no course-specific pattern; it works well day to day. Consistency matters most: it is an addition to a balanced diet, not a one-off „shot". Do not exceed the recommended daily serving stated on the label. After the cycle you decide: you continue, take a break, or return seasonally. A small practical note from the kitchen: always cook fresh shiitake, because in some people raw or undercooked mushroom causes a transient skin rash; the extract undergoes heat treatment in production, so in most people it does not trigger this.
Recommended daily serving: As on the label
| Ingredient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| 10:1 extract from Shiitake fruiting bodies (Lentinula edodes), min. 30% beta-glucans | 50% |
| Powdered Shiitake fruiting body | 50% |
See the pack label for details. Do not exceed the recommended daily serving.
In a tightly closed package, in a dry, cool and dark place, ideally below 20 degrees Celsius. Protect from moisture. Keep away from children. Shelf life 24-36 months in the original packaging.
If you have a documented history of a skin reaction after raw or undercooked Shiitake (a transient, streaky rash in some people, known as shiitake dermatitis), consult a doctor before use. Consulting a doctor is also advisable if you take immunosuppressive medication, have an autoimmune disease in an active phase, have had a transplant, take statins or have a monitored homocysteine level. Stop using the product at least 14 days before planned surgery. The product is not intended for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women. A full list of contraindications and interactions is in the Shiitake category description.
2 human studies
1969–2023
10:1 fruiting-body extract
Dual water-alcohol extraction.
≥30% beta-glucans
Megazyme method.
Every batch tested
Heavy metals and pesticides.
Is it for me?
Shiitake is an everyday, long-cycle mushroom. Do not look in it for a spark or a burst of energy; look for calm, slow support in the background, day after day.
You are sceptical about functional mushrooms and prefer to start with one known from the kitchen rather than something exotic.
You want a ready serving with no measuring and without the pronounced, forest-umami taste of the powder, at a fixed time of day.
What matters to you is a transparent, well-described composition and batch repeatability, not an anonymous “mushroom” blend.
Species guide: Shiitake
Tradition · mechanisms · synergies · evidence
Reviews come from customers with a verified purchase and are moderated by the independent platform TrustMate. We do not publish opinions in exchange for benefits, nor do we alter their content.
formula and dosage
Composition, serving, taste and how to use it change with the form and line you pick. Choose above and the card shows the right variant.
beta-glucans≥30%
measured with the Megazyme method
fruiting-body extract10:1
dual water-and-alcohol extraction
Proszek · LONGEVITY
For coffee, a smoothie or yoghurt. A flexible serving, no capsule measuring.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
The text below is a description of shiitake in the system of concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, developed over more than two millennia. It is not a scientific claim or a promise of a health effect. Concepts such as Qi or the Spleen meridian do not correspond one-to-one to Western anatomy or physiology. Treat this section as cultural context.
On the dead wood of deciduous trees, in warmth and moisture, a brown mushroom grows with a velvety cap and pale gills. This is shiitake (Lentinula edodes), in Polish twardnik japoński (a name given by the mycologist Władysław Wojewoda in 1998; the forms twardziak jadalny and twardziak uprawny also occur). The Japanese name joins the words shii (Japanese oak) and take (mushroom), that is, the „oak mushroom". In China it is known as xianggu (香菇, the „fragrant mushroom") and donggu (冬菇, the „winter mushroom"). It is the second most widely cultivated mushroom in the world after the button mushroom, so it is not exotic; in Poland you see it in the supermarket.
The first Japanese mentions of shiitake go back to the year 199 AD, when a tribe from Kyushu offered the mushroom to the emperor. In the 14th century, under the Yuan dynasty, Wu Rui described it in the work Daily Use Materia Medica as a longevity tonic. In the Chinese tradition shiitake belongs to the shang yao category (higher herbs), those regarded as suitable for long-term use. Shiitake has been present in Chinese cuisine and medicine for centuries as a classic food-and-medicine mushroom (yao shi). In the traditional classification it is a Qi tonic, a direction of everyday energy and general vitality. These are ethnographic facts. They are not a forecast of what you will feel after taking a serving of shiitake. This is the tradition that Mateusz, the founder of Aloha Fungi and a Doctor of Acupuncture (WFAS), works with day to day.
Cultural context, not a scientific claim or promise of effect.
First days
You take 3 capsules during the day, ideally with a meal. Shiitake is an everyday mushroom, so it is easiest to set it into a fixed time of day. This is the stage at which it becomes a fixed part of the day.
First weeks
The supplementation settles into a rhythm. In Eastern tradition shiitake is a mushroom of long, calm support, not of an explosion. As a classic shang yao mushroom it works well in a long routine. First observations usually come after 4-8 weeks of regularity.
90-day cycle
A full ninety days, the minimum that Eastern medicine allows for assessing a protocol. Shiitake has no course-specific pattern; it works well day to day. After the cycle you decide: you continue, take a break, or return seasonally.
Why Aloha?
You can check each of them on the label and in the batch tests.
We work only with the mature fruiting body of shiitake from controlled cultivation, grown on a wood-based substrate and harvested after a full growth cycle. Mycelium on grain is largely starch from the substrate, not the mushroom.
Shiitake is the most popular culinary-and-medicinal mushroom in the world. The extraction is run by our partner Yi, twenty years in the trade; we audit the source once a quarter.
Lentinan, a long-chain beta-glucan with a triple-helix structure, requires a long, hot water extraction, which is why we do not reduce the mushroom to a simple, carelessly made powder.
Beta-glucans are measured with the enzymatic Megazyme method, which tells them apart from starch and does not inflate the result.
Heavy metals and a full pesticide panel for every batch, with species confirmation by DNA barcoding available on request. Every batch has an individual certificate.
We are practitioners of Chinese medicine.
I work every day with the tradition this mushroom comes from. Shiitake is the mushroom I explain to clients the fastest, because it is familiar.
Mateusz Rosa
Doctor of Acupuncture (WFAS), founder of Aloha Fungi
„Shiitake is the mushroom I start every sceptic with. Familiar, honest, no fireworks.”
It is not exotic, just a mushroom that someone in your family may have used in the kitchen. Today we use it in a concentrated extract, because in a capsule you have the polysaccharides of several dozen grams of raw material.
Give the ritual time. We suggest a minimum of 90 days of consistency. I recommend the capsules to those who want a ready serving with no taste and no measuring.
A question about the form or the line? Write to me, I answer personally.
Write to meReviews of Aloha Fungi: The rating next to the price covers the whole shop. Reviews of Shiitake itself are shown below, verified only.
Recommended daily serving: 3 capsules, ideally with a meal. We suggest a minimum of 90 days of consistency. Shiitake is an everyday mushroom with no specific time of day, so it is easiest to set it into a fixed moment.
It is a matter of convenience and taste. Capsules are for people who prefer a ready serving with no taste and no measuring. You choose the powder if you like adding the mushroom to cooking, broths and drinks. Drops, if you value speed: a few drops under the tongue. You will find the powder and drops at these addresses.
In a small percentage of people, eating raw or undercooked shiitake causes a transient, itchy, streaky rash on the trunk (known as shiitake dermatitis), which clears up on its own. That is why we always cook fresh shiitake. Our extract undergoes heat treatment in production and in most people does not trigger this reaction. If you have a documented history of such a reaction, consult a doctor before use.
These are two compounds described in shiitake. Lentinan is a long-chain beta-glucan with a triple-helix structure, isolated in 1969. Eritadenine is a compound structurally unique to shiitake, found in no other mushroom or plant. We give this as a piece of trivia about the mushroom`s chemistry, not as a health promise. Shiitake is a food supplement and a food, not a medicine.
Mycelium grown on grain contains a large part of starch from the substrate, not the mushroom itself. We work with a fruiting body grown on a wood-based substrate, because it is the one that gives a fuller profile of compounds. Without dilution by a cereal substrate.
90 days as a full cycle. First observations usually appear after 4-8 weeks of regularity. As a classic shang yao mushroom, shiitake works well in a long routine, with no course-specific pattern. After a full cycle you decide: you continue, return seasonally, or stop.
Yes. Shiitake is a good everyday mushroom that slots into broader protocols. Individual set-up is available during a free consultation.
We will not answer. If we did, it would be an illegal health claim. Shiitake is a food supplement, not a medicine. If you are considering it as part of support for a specific condition, consult the doctor treating you.
Cheaper shiitake supplements are often mycelium grown for a few weeks in a bag of sawdust and cereal grain, where the end product is largely a cereal substrate. We work only with a mature fruiting body from controlled cultivation, harvested after a full growth cycle. The capsule holds 50% dual 10:1 extract from the fruiting body and 50% powdered fruiting body from the same source, standardised to a minimum of 30% beta-glucans, tested at EUROFINS for every batch, with species confirmation by DNA barcoding available on request. A plant-based capsule, with no maltodextrin.
LONGEVITY shiitake suits people who are sceptical about functional mushrooms and prefer to start with a mushroom known from the kitchen, building an everyday ritual without an intensive protocol. The product is not intended for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women; consult a doctor if you have a documented history of a skin reaction after raw shiitake, take immunosuppressive medication or statins, have an active autoimmune disease, or have had a transplant.
Shiitake has no specific time of day, so it is easiest to set it into a fixed, convenient moment, ideally with a meal. Regularity matters more than the time of day.
No. The product is not intended for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women.
The extract undergoes heat treatment in production and in most people does not trigger a reaction. In a small percentage of people, raw or undercooked shiitake causes a transient, itchy rash (shiitake dermatitis), which clears up on its own. If you have a documented history of such a reaction, consult a doctor before use.
The deeper layer
Research, tradition and the chemistry of the fruiting body in one place. Open what interests you. The full description of the mushroom, mechanisms from research and the bibliography live on a separate knowledge page.
Shiitake: properties, research and safetyThese studies looked at Shiitake extracts, not our product. We show them so you know where the reputation of this mushroom comes from.
Lentinan, the Shiitake beta-glucan, is studied for its chemical structure.
A 2004 study characterised by NMR the polysaccharide fraction isolated from Lentinula edodes, describing the structure of the lentinan molecule.
Tomati et al., Carbohydrate Research 2004 ↗Shiitake as a multicomponent mushroom is the subject of scientific reviews.
A 2024 review summarises the compounds described in Lentinula edodes, including lentinan and eritadenine, as an example of a multicomponent mushroom.
Lindequist, Journal of Fungi 2024 ↗Beta-glucan content in mushrooms is measured with a validated enzymatic method.
The method described in 2016 (today the Megazyme standard) distinguishes mushroom beta-glucans from starch and other polysaccharides, giving a repeatable result regardless of the laboratory.
McCleary and Draga, Journal of AOAC International 2016 ↗The shiitake fruiting body contains above all beta-1,3/1,6-glucans, water-soluble polysaccharides. The best-described single molecule is lentinan, a beta-glucan with a mass of 500-1000 kilodaltons and a triple-helix structure.
Shiitake also contains eritadenine, a structurally unique compound found in no other mushroom or medicinal plant. This is a piece of trivia about the mushroom’s chemistry, not a health promise. Lentinan requires a long, hot water extraction, which is why we do not reduce the mushroom to a simple powder.
What does the shiitake fruiting body hold? Above all, beta-1,3/1,6-glucans, water-soluble polysaccharides. The best-described single molecule here is lentinan, a beta-glucan with a mass of 500-1000 kilodaltons and a characteristic triple-helix structure, first isolated by Goro Chihara in 1969 and described in the journal Nature.
Shiitake also contains eritadenine, a structurally unique compound: it does not occur in any other mushroom or medicinal plant. This is a piece of trivia about the mushroom`s chemistry, not a health promise.
On top of that, one of the highest levels among functional mushrooms of ergosterol (a precursor of vitamin D2), B-group vitamins and selenium.
Lentinan is a long-chain beta-glucan with a triple-helix structure that requires a long, hot water extraction. That is why we do not reduce the mushroom to a simple, carelessly made powder. We work with a mature fruiting body grown on a wood-based substrate, harvested after a full growth cycle, rather than mycelium grown on grain, in which a large part of the final mass is starch from the substrate. This difference determines the profile of bioactive compounds in the raw material.
Let us be honest: the above is a description of the raw material and its molecules, not of our supplement. It does not follow that shiitake is a medicine or that it resolves any health problem on its own; it shows what this mushroom is at the chemical level.
We test every batch of extracts in the EUROFINS laboratory, with particular emphasis on purity: heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic) and pesticides (a multi-residue panel across a broad spectrum of compounds). Species-identity confirmation by DNA barcoding (ITS1/ITS2) is available on request.
Every batch has an individual certificate, which we publish without retouching. Bibliographic data: PubMed.
The cited papers concern the raw material and its compounds, not our product. They are not claims about treatment.
A food supplement does not replace a varied diet or a healthy lifestyle. This product is not a medicinal product. Do not exceed the recommended daily serving. Not for use during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or by children. If in doubt, consult a doctor or pharmacist.
What was studied, on how many people and with what level of evidence. This overview describes studies, not the effects of a product.
2
human studies
0
placebo-controlled RCTs
1969–2023
years of publication
Wang H., Yin X. et al., 2015
Bmeta-analysis of 12 clinical studies (injectable lentinan + chemotherapy, drug)
950 people (492 lentinan / 458 control)
The meta-analysis collected 12 clinical studies of intravenous lentinan added to NSCLC chemotherapy (efficacy, toxicity), data from 2 databases (PubMed, CNKI). An intravenous pharmaceutical preparation, clearly different from an oral fruiting-body supplement, analogous to PSK/PSP for Coriolus.
PMID 26548936Dai X. et al., 2015
Cparallel RCT, 2 doses, no placebo
52 people (21-41 years old, healthy)
The trial examined 4 weeks of eating 5 g or 10 g dried Shiitake daily in healthy adults, measuring ex vivo proliferation and activation of γδ-T and NK-T cells, salivary sIgA, CRP and cytokine profile. No placebo group, only a young healthy population, short duration; the authors themselves note the shortage of human intervention studies.
PMID 25866155Chihara G. et al., 1969
Eanimal, isolated polysaccharide fraction (lentinan)
not applicable
The mouse study measured inhibition of sarcoma S-180 by an isolated polysaccharide fraction from Lentinus edodes (the founding paper for the lentinan drug, not a supplement).
PMID 5768289The presence of a study is not a health claim.
Shiitake, the oak mushroom of East Asian kitchens. An educational look at umami, wood cultivation, TCM tradition and its place in a kitchen and brew ritual.
Ceremonial cacao, coffee and matcha with functional mushrooms. What this looks like in kitchen practice, and where to start without overhauling your whole diet.
Information provided in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (GPSR).
