At Primordia, we only use the best wild strains of Agaricus blazei Murill as our starting materials, including a grade A Brazilian strain and an authentic Japanese strain (Iwade strain 101). The comparison of our mushroom culture to the wild-type Agaricus blazei Murill species reveals that our strain is almost identical to the species found in the wild, with a 99.3% similarity between the two rDNA sequences. Having an authentic strain, however, is only one piece of the puzzle. In our view, the key to cultivating any biologically active mushroom, including the Brazilian mushroom, has to do with the geographical authenticity provided by the micro-habitat conditions that give the mushroom its unique biomedical features.

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Our Agaricus strains are cultured in the right lighting and temperature conditions in a specially developed medium containing a wealth of micronutrients and trace elements designed to mimic the natural conditions that confer the mushroom its unique properties. The cultivated mushrooms are then broken down carefully to fine sizes using a novel cell rupturing technology that allows the mushroom’s nutrients to be readily assimilated by the body upon ingestion. These growing conditions allow our extracts to be highly enriched in bioactive polysaccharides, including alpha-D-glucans, beta-D-glucans, beta-(1-6)-D-glucan-protein complex, xyloglucan-protein complex, nucleotides, and fatty acids. In addition, the mushrooms are enriched with our proprietary blend of Primordia Elements, an important mixture of minerals and trace elements that are essential to our overall health and are usually lacking in our daily diet.

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Since these minerals and trace elements are assimilated by the mushrooms during cultivation, we believe that they play a key role, among other influences, in our ability to achieve the geographical authenticity that we seek to master with all our mushrooms. Finally, it should be noted that our extracts are derived from both the mycelia and fruiting bodies of Agaricus blazei Murill and are therefore excellent for delivering the optimal balance of mushroom nutrients known for boosting vitality and overall health.

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In the wild, Agaricus blazei Murill grows in conditions with large intraday climatic variations. As a litter-decomposing fungus, Agaricus blazei Murill requires soil rich with organic debris and normally grows in forests and well-manured grasslands. Since it takes several months to cultivate the fruiting body of Agaricus blazei Murill in the lab and the quality of the mushroom is hard to control, most products sold in today’s market suffer from poor quality and dubious efficacy compared to those harvested directly from the wild. For one, many of the mushroom cultures have been found to be laced with heavy metals. This issue was particularly problematic in the past with mushrooms exported from several regions in mainland China. Since this type of mushroom, like most other mushrooms, shows an insatiable ability to absorb all kinds of minerals, it is easy to understand why the mushroom will accumulate and even concentrate heavy metals if they are harvested in the wild. This unfortunately appears to be the case in most, if not all, of the farms that we have visited.

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By growing, cultivating, and encapsulating our Agaricus in our own facilities, never relying on any third party providers, we are able to ensure that our products are of the highest quality, free of allergens, and exceed all standards set by the FDA.