Making the Most of Your Harvest: Medicinal Mushroom Tincture

Cold and flu season is upon us, but fret not my foraging friends! The forests and fields offer an incredible array of plants and fungi to help ward off those pesky coughs, sniffling noses and winter blahs. Late fall in my house means its time to get tincturing!

Tinctures have been used for centuries by herbalists and healers alike and can be made from plants or fungi. It is a concentrated liquid that extracts all of the beneficial medicinal qualities of any ingredient by breaking down compounds and cell walls through a single or double extraction method.

Taken in small doses by tongue dripper or added to teas and soups, tinctures are an excellent way to preserve your foraging finds and turn them in to powerful medicines to use daily (brain boosters like Hericium fungi), as needed (immune boosters like Chaga), or for preventative care (stimulate boosters like Turkey Tail) to fight off tumors and attack foreign or abnormal cells.

November ts a great time to find Turkey Tail fungi, considered the most medicinal mushroom on the planet.

In traditional western herbal medicine, Turkey Tail has been used for its many benefits to the immune system, specifically for post viral fatigue and for those who are prone to infections. It can be taken regularly throughout the winter months to keep immune function in superior condition, preventing the occurrence of coughs, cold and flu. But, it could hold even more powerful properties.

Turkey Tail contains various polysaccharides, one in particular is polysaccharide K (PSK). Preliminary research indicates that PSK has anticancer activity and may also inhibit various cancer onset mechanisms. It is also thought to protect healthy cells from radiotherapy so aids the function of cancer treatments.A true magic mushroom!

To capture these amazing benefits, only a few simple steps are required. I always prefer a double extraction method for my tinctures, but single extraction (alcohol-only) tinctures work very well too! I think it mostly depends on how much of the wild ingredient you have. If you have a small amount, opt for single extraction. If you have more, do a double!

Instructions

Ingredients:

Fresh or dehydrated mushrooms, finely chopped

At least 100-proof (up to 160 proof) alcohol – Vodka or Everclear

Spring water (like Poland Spring, not tap!)

Steps:

• Divide chopped dehydrated (or fresh) mushrooms into two equal portions.
• Place half of the mushrooms in a clean glass jar; add 100+-proof alcohol until the mushrooms are completely covered.
• Shake gently once a day, or at least a few times a week.
• Allow to macerate for 3-4 weeks
• Strain out the mushroom material. Reserve the strained tincture.
• Measure out twice as much water as the volume of your strained tincture. For example, if you have 4 ounces of strained tincture, you will now use 8 ounces of water to make a decoction.
• To prepare a decoction, combine the remaining dry mushrooms (or fresh) or mushroom powder with the water; bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 4 hours. Add more water as needed to make sure that the mushrooms remain covered and there’s no opportunity for them to burn.
• Strain out the mushrooms from the decoction.
• You want to have approximately equal amounts of tincture and decoction; if the volume of decoction is greater than the volume of tincture, simmer the decoction, uncovered, until the water is reduced to the desired volume. 
• Allow the decoction to cool completely, then slowly pour the tincture into the decoction while whisking steadily. It is important to do it in this order rather than pouring the decoction into the tincture since you want to minimize the exposure of polysaccharides to undiluted alcohol.
• Store in a labeled, sanitized glass jar with a tight-fitting lid in a cool, dark place.

Finding Turkey Tail

Having trouble identifying Turkey Tails? All three of my last wood and field forages this year will feature these beautiful and highly medicinal mushrooms!

Join me this Saturday in Weston for a Forage, Wild Soda Workshop & Tasting, next week in Newton for one of my last fall forages focusing on wild herbs, plants, trees and tubers or December 6 in Lincoln.