Reishi is a marvellously medicinal mushroom.

1. There is some nutritious value in any kind of edible mushroom depending on the kind and quality.

2. Generally speaking, the medicinal compound are found in some kinds of "wood mushrooms" which inhabit trees or grow on dead wood.

3. The major components of wood are cellulose (a carbohydrates polymer) and lignin.(a phenol-containing polymer).

4. The lignin is a substance to make tree or plant in solid, so that even a straw can stand up with lignin even though straw contains about 1/3 of lignin compared with tree in weight basis. Lignin is also anti-bacterial substance because it is a phenol polymer, so that trees are not easily decomposed by bacteria but can be attacked by some types of fungus, one of which is wood mushroom mycelia.

5. Medicinal mushrooms such as Shiitake, Maitake & Reishi have a strong power to decompse lignin, compared with nother wood mushrooms or so-called "straw mushrooms". So we can say that there is a strong correlation between the degree of lignin decomposing power and the presence of medicinal compounds.

6. Such decomposition of lignin in the mushroom (bio-decomposing process) is caused by several kinds of enzymes which require a lot of minerals, especially metal minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, copper and manganese.

7. It is said in Japan that medicinal mushrooms grown around volcanic areas are far better than those from other areas. Because the soils in volcanic areas contain a lot of metal minerals, the wood logs for medicinal mushrooms cultivation also contain an abundance of these minerals.

8. This fact is my basic understanding for getting the high quality medicinal mushrooms.

9. There is a very interesting experience in Japan for Reishi cultivation.

* Reishi has been cultivated wood logs (oak), rather than using artificial saw-dust growth media.

* The oak logs are laid into mineral rich soil.

* Virgin land for Reishi cultivation is far better than the continuous use of the same land, in terms of harvested volume and quality.

* The land of apple plantation where apple cultivation has been carried our over a period of more than 50 years is most suitable land for Reishi cultivation.

* Bordeaux mixture (an agrochemical used to control tree disease, made from copper and calcium) is used in apple plantations. The application of this mixture over 50 years enriches copper and calcium levels to 10 times that of  normal land. This enriched land is far better for Reishi cultivation, than normal land. Even in such land, the Reishi crop becomes worse after 3 years of continuous Reishi cultivation.

* This means "How important is the soil conditions for Reishi cultivation?".

* In order to maintain a high quality of Reishi, it is better to move new land after two years.