Maitake

AKA: Hen of The Woods, Dancing Mushroom, Cloud Mushroom, Thousand Buddha Fungus.

Scientific: Grifola frondosa

Class: Agaricomycetes

Part used: Extracted fruiting body

Where: Qianxi County, Hebei

Phyto-Nectar: Focused

Why

Maitake is one of the world’s great culinary and medicinal mushrooms, studied for centuries for its bioactive compounds found in the fruiting body.

The major bioactive components are the polysaccharides β-glucans. The complex polysaccharide fractions extracted from Maitake have been researched for their various potential bioactive effects such as immunomodulation, antitumor, antivirus, antidiabetic and anti-inflammation. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have also attributed or linked the health and therapeutic effects of Maitake polysaccharides to their capacity for modifying gut microbiota.

Maitakes therapeutic potential and its great flavour are the reasons for including it in our Focused nectar.