How to Identify Wild Reishi Mushroom? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods
What are the differences between wild reishi mushroom and cultivated reishi mushroom? The effects and functions of reishi mushroom include protecting the liver and detoxifying, treating diabetes, improving the cardiovascular system, and whitening the skin, giving it extremely high medicinal value. Because wild reishi mushroom is precious, quite a few artificially counterfeited wild reishi mushrooms have appeared on the market. So, what are the differences between wild reishi mushroom and cultivated reishi mushroom? Let us take a look together below!
Difference in color
Wild reishi mushroom, exposed to sun and rain in the wild, generally has relatively vivid color, with a natural luster and mottled traces of the passing years. Cultivated reishi mushroom, by contrast, grows in a greenhouse, with monotonous color and a shiny surface. Cultivated reishi mushroom is not easy to store, while wild reishi mushroom can be stored long term.
Size and hardness
Cultivated reishi mushroom generally grows in greenhouses and is usually much larger than wild reishi mushroom; at the same time, cultivated reishi mushroom is very uniform in size, and its shape is also very regular. Wild reishi mushroom picked on the mountain is generally uneven in size, unlike cultivated reishi mushroom, whose size is also similar between different batches. In addition, wild reishi mushroom is harder than cultivated reishi mushroom.
Whether there are insect holes
Cultivated reishi mushroom generally uses pesticides to control insect pests, so there are almost no insect holes. Because wild reishi mushroom grows in a natural environment, it suffers damage from wild insects, so irregular insect holes remain on the underside of its fruiting body, which is a normal phenomenon.
Difference in smell
The taste of wild reishi mushroom is bitter, and very bitter; generally speaking, the more bitter the reishi mushroom, the more pronounced its medicinal effect, as the saying goes, good medicine tastes bitter. If the “wild reishi mushroom” you buy is sweet or not bitter, then it is a counterfeit. Moreover, wild reishi mushroom does not have any smell when sniffed.
Difference in price
Things are precious when they are rare. The resources of wild reishi mushroom are becoming increasingly scarce, and the price of wild reishi mushroom varies within different ranges depending on its size, age, medicinal effect, and variety. Cultivated reishi mushroom, because of batch cultivation, can be supplied by the ton, so it can be bought on the market for a price of a few dozen yuan or less than one hundred yuan.