14/12/2021
It's almost unethical that we don't treat every cancer patient with medicinal mushrooms. The beta-glucon immuno modulating compounds are spectacular. I have several cases where I am convinced they have extended life + imporoved prognosis. See Martin Powell's book for more info (on sale from napiers.net)
Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor) info & tea recipe. Foraging Fortnight
Are you ready for a deep dive into the ‘wood-wide-web’? That is, the fascinating mycelium mushroom threads that permeate the underground layers of the planet, forming relationships with plants, soil microbes, trees and each other!
Do you know this common polypore mushroom? It's likely on some deadwood in your garden, local greenspace or woodland. Today I'm preparing some turkey tail tea as I harvested, chopped and dried some a few months back. Read on for more info!
Turkey tail mushrooms name reflects its multicoloured bands and its fan-like shape, similar to that of a turkey’s tail and is also known as kawaratake in Japanese and yun zhi in Chinese medicine. T. versicolour comes in many colours and has beautiful zonations (which can be purplish, greyish brown to brown to blackish brown in tone), it is one of the most common mushrooms in woodlands throughout the world, growing on dead wood.
Forming annually from late spring through early winter in widely diverse climates (boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical), turkey tail grows in over lapping, wavy clusters that have a white pore-like underside – a ‘polypore’ that grows on virtually all hardwoods but can also grow upon conifers – harvest in late summer and autumn before sporing, do not collect when greenish in colour, as they are likely ones from the previous year (often with darker undersides and signs of decay).
Paul Stamets points out in his amazing book ‘Mycelium Running, How Mushrooms Can Save The World’ (highly recommended!) that “studies in the past 20 years have unveiled that the enzymes secreted by its mycelium are some of the most powerful toxin-destroying agents yet identified from a natural source. This species offers unique tools for healing both people and the planet from the ravages of pollution”
The following information is adapted from Stamets’ fascinating book:
Medicinal Properties:
Turkey tail is one of the best-documented medicinal mushrooms. The ‘mycomedical’ activity is twofold: both as an antitumor compound, inhibiting growth of cancer cells, and in stimulating a host-mediated response, boosting the immune system’s natural killer cells (Garcia-Lora et. Al 2001).
Investigations at the New York Medical College suggest that ethanolic extracts of yun zhi show promise by boosting the immune response in treating prostate cancer by slowing the growth of tumours (Hsieh and Wu 2001).
In clinical studies, patients afflicted with gastric cancer and treated with chemotherapy showed a decrease in cancer recurrence and an increase in the disease-free survival rate when conventional treatment was combined with the polysaccharide PSK (Krestin) from T. Versicolor (Sugimachi et al. 1997); Nakazato et al. 1994).
Mushroom Restoration of Nature!
Filling hessian sacks with woodchip or sawdust (inoculated with turkey tail spores) are useful for filtering metals, organophosphates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – derived from coal, oil, and decomposition and combustion of organic matter – and microbes such as E. coli, Listeria. Candida and Aspergillus species from sewage and other toxic waste effluents.
T. versicolor is the focus of a spectacular array of studies showing that the secondary metabolites from its mycelium – its laccases, and oxidised lignin peroxidases – are highly effective in breaking down PAHs (and other potentially dangerous chemicals) including antracines (Johannes et al.1996; Field et al. 1992), pyrenes, flourene (Sack and Gunther 1993), methoxybenzenes (Kersten et al. 1990), and styrene (Milstein et al. 1992).
These compounds could also aid in the destruction of dimethylmethylphosphonates (nerve toxins) and even the bleaching of pulp (Katagiri et al. 1995). Finally, Arica and other researchers (2003) found that the heat-killed mycelium of T. versicolor could selectively absorb mercuric ions from aquatic systems – making this mushroom potentially useful for filtering out mercury.
