Coconut Poria Extract - GymBeam

Poria mushroom (Wolfiporia extensa) is one of the oldest mushrooms used in traditional Chinese culture, where it is known as fu-ling. It is also known as Poria cocos and Wolfiporia cocos, as matsuhodo in Japan, and as poria or China root in English-language sources.

Unlike most mushrooms, it is harvested for its sclerotium rather than its fruiting body. This underground mass grows on the roots of pine trees. One capsule contains 500 mg of extract at a 10:1 ratio, equivalent to 5 g of sclerotium.

The extract is standardized to contain 40% polysaccharides, providing 200 mg per serving. Three-quarters of these polysaccharides, or 150 mg, are beta-glucans. It contains no gluten, lactose or GMOs and is also suitable for vegans. We regularly test the product for heavy metals and microbiological purity.

Functional mushrooms are generally taken over the long term rather than in short courses. The pack therefore lasts for three months.

Poria does not grow like a typical mushroom with a cap. It forms a sclerotium, a firm underground structure that can weigh several kilograms and grows on the roots and stumps of pine trees. The sclerotium is the part that is harvested and processed.

Polysaccharides account for roughly 84% of its active compounds, and their main component is beta-(1→3)-D-glucan. The sclerotium also contains triterpenoids and sterols.⁴

In traditional Chinese practices, poria is one of the most widely used ingredients. Known as fu-ling, it appears in hundreds of traditional formulations and has been used for more than two thousand years. It is still commonly prescribed in China and Japan today.⁴

Poria has only become known in Europe as a medicinal mushroom in recent years and remains the least well-known of the group. While almost everyone knows reishi or oyster mushrooms, poria remains relatively unfamiliar, despite having a longer history in Asian tradition than either of them.