Dual extraction is a way of making a mushroom extract in two stages so it carries both major families of compounds. Hot water draws out the polysaccharides, including beta-glucans. Alcohol draws out the triterpenes and other compounds that dissolve poorly in water. The two extracts are then combined.
Why Two Solvents
Different compounds dissolve in different liquids. In reishi, polysaccharides and triterpenes are the two main groups of active compounds; hot water is the traditional way to extract the polysaccharides, and ethanol is the traditional way to extract the triterpenes (Zheng et al., 2020). Using one solvent alone favors one family of compounds over the other, so dual extraction uses both.
How We Use It
Ozark Forest Elixir is dual extracted so each dropper carries both the water-soluble and the alcohol-soluble parts of its wildcrafted mushrooms.
What Is Still Open
The chemistry behind dual extraction is sound. Whether a dual extract produces greater effects in people than a single extract has not been tested directly in human studies.
References
Zheng, S., Zhang, W., & Liu, S. (2020). Optimization of ultrasonic-assisted extraction of polysaccharides and triterpenoids from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum and evaluation of their in vitro antioxidant capacities. PLoS ONE, 15(12), Article e0244749. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244749