Why UAE?

...and other Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Ultra-Sonic Assisted Extraction (UAE) so important?

Mushrooms contain “good stuff”, such as beta-glucans, poly-sachharides, minerals, nutrients….. Unfortunately, though, mushrooms are also comprised of chitin, a fibrous substance that makes absorbing the “good stuff”—-AKA Compounds of Interest (COI), from absorbing into the gut and intestines. This is why it is important to extract the COIs from the substance.

There are numerous methods of extraction: cooking, pickling, hot water, alcohol, etc. However, these techniques either degrade COIs or don’t break down the chitin enough to allow the COIs to become exposed, resulting in the inner constituents to pass through the intestinal system without getting absorbed.

With UAE, low frequency, ultra-sound waves are applied to the a liquid slurry of the fruiting body; this creates little bubbles on the surface of the fungal surface, which damages the cellular walls of the mushroom, allowing the COIs to transfer to the extract liquid. The outcome that follows promises a higher amount of exposed “good stuff”, allowing the body to better take in more of the valuable compounds offered than other extraction techniques.

The optimum number of COIs extracted is achieved with less energy, resources, and raw materials; it is environmentally-conscious, energy efficient, and requires no harsh chemicals.

Simply put, you get more bang for your buck.

FAQs

Further Reading

We learned from the best. Some of the source texts from which we draw our knowledge:

Yoong Kit Leong a, Fan-Chiang Yang a, Jo-Shu Chang. Extraction of polysaccharides from edible mushrooms: Emerging technologies and recent advances

Powell, Martin. Medicinal Mushrooms: A Clinical Guide

Ghasemzadeh, A., & Ghasemzadeh, N. (2019).  Flavonoids and phenolic acids: Role and biochemical activity in plants and human

Vilkhu, K., Mawson, R., Simons, L., & Bates, D. (2008). Applications and opportunities for ultrasound assisted extraction in the food industry — A review