Our Spagyric three-part extraction process combines the best methods to create the safest and most effective mushroom extracts for your pets. We use a dual extraction process with distilled water and organic cane alcohol to ensure that all the beneficial compounds are fully captured. This is followed by a spagyric extraction, where the mineral salts of the mushroom are reintegrated, resulting in a more powerful and complete mushroom extract. While some pet parents may worry about the use of alcohol in the process, our method is designed to maximize potency and safety, ensuring your pet receives the full spectrum of therapeutic benefits.
The Importance of Proper Extraction Methods for Medicinal Mushrooms
To get the medicinal compounds out of mushrooms, extraction is needed. However, the type of extraction used is a critical factor in determining the end product's potency, purity, and safety. Let’s talk about different types of extraction and what’s best for mushrooms.
Why Extraction is Necessary
Some form of extraction must be used to break down the rigid cell wall of mushrooms, called chitin; otherwise, the medicinal properties will remain locked inside the mushroom. Pets cannot break down chitin, and humans can’t do so very easily, either. So, what are the most common methods, and what are their advantages?
Common Extraction Methods for Mushrooms
Hot Water Extraction
This is the most common type of extraction and is very similar to how you make an herbal tea. Mushrooms are added to water; once boiling, the water is left to simmer for a determined amount of time (from hours to days).
This process will remove any water-soluble compounds, like polysaccharides and beta-glucans. The water is separated from the remaining mushrooms, and that water is used to create extracts. Some companies will turn this water extract into powder via spray drying.
Advantages: Extracts water-soluble compounds like polysaccharides and beta-glucans.
Disadvantages: Water will not extract compounds that are not water-soluble, so a second extraction method is needed to fully extract all the beneficial compounds. That's why MycoDog uses dual extraction.
Grain-based Alcohol/Ethanol Extraction
Ethanol extraction is the second method of extraction that most mushroom manufacturers use due to its cheap cost. However, ethanol is not as safe as other alcohols used (like organic cane alcohol).
While ethanol is better than other harmful chemicals like chloroform or butane, if you are not using a food-grade, organic product, you risk your mushroom extract containing harmful additives or chemicals used to create the ethanol.
Most ethanol is derived from corn, meaning it’s very likely derived from GMO crops sprayed with massive amounts of pesticides. Due to the complex chemical nature of corn, and despite all the fermentation and distillation, it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to create a truly pure product.
Unfortunately, ethanol sourced from corn will likely contain undesirable pollutants and contaminants, which is concerning, especially for a product given to animals suffering from illness or disease.
Why MycoDog Doesn't Use Ethanol Extraction:
- Many pets are sensitive to corn or wheat, which are used in making grain alcohol.
- Supporting conventional corn or wheat industries does not align with our values.
- Cane alcohol is produced three times more efficiently than grain alcohol and has a significant positive environmental impact.
Cane Alchohol Extraction
Similar to how water extraction works, mushrooms are placed in a container of food-grade, organic cane alcohol. Cane alcohol is derived from organic sugar cane, which is pressed and then fermented and distilled, creating an end product that is approximately 95% alcohol.
Alcohol extraction will release all the mushroom's alcohol-soluble properties, such as terpenoids, phenolics, triterpenoids, inositols, sterols, and ergosterols. Reishi and Chaga need this extraction method most because their benefits can only be fully unlocked using alcohol.
After the primary extraction using Organic Cane Alcohol, the alcohol is later evaporated to remove any excess, ensuring that the final product is safe for your pets.
Is There Organic Cane Alcohol in MycoDog Extracts?
Though the alcohol is precipitated out during the extraction process, our MycoDog COAs do show a trace amount of residual alcohol. This is a very safe amount and will not harm or even change any biochemical reactions in the body because it is in such a low amount.
Additionally, having trace amounts proves that our extraction is done with alcohol to ensure all the therapeutic properties are pulled from the mushroom to provide the most effective result for your dog or cat. So fear not, our extraction methods are executed with the utmost care and concern for your pet’s safety and to yield the most therapeutic results possible.
Why MycoDog Uses a Three-Part Extraction Process
At MycoDog, we understand the importance of using a comprehensive extraction process to ensure the highest quality and efficacy of our mushroom tinctures.
That’s why MycoDog mushrooms undergo a three-part extraction process, starting with a primary ethanol extraction using Organic Cane Alcohol, followed by a hydro extraction using distilled water, and finishing with the spagyric extraction of the fungi’s mineral salts, which are then imbibed into the tincture. This process ensures that we capture all the beneficial compounds from the mushrooms, resulting in a powerful extract known as a Spagyric Tincture.
Mineral Salt Extraction: The Spagyric Method
Our third method is the spagyric method, where we extract the remaining mineral and energetic properties of the mushroom by incinerating it to produce ash. This controlled burn, known as calcining, reduces the mushroom to a white ash of pure and soluble minerals. When these minerals are reintroduced into the dually extracted mushrooms, it creates a true full-spectrum mushroom tincture for your pet.
The Best Mushroom Extraction Method for Your Pet’s Health
Simply put, when it comes to extracting the beneficial compounds in mushrooms, the three-part extraction process used by MycoDog—starting with Organic Cane Alcohol, followed by hydro extraction and finishing with the spagyric method—is the most effective way to ensure that all the therapeutic properties are captured. This allows you and your pet to enjoy the full spectrum of benefits from these fantastic fungi!
