How is Cordyceps extracted?

In our blog article from March 2nd, 2024, we discussed different types of extraction and why it is important to extract your mushrooms. The point of March 2nd's article was to answer the question "What is Cordyceps tincture used for?" In this week's article, we're answering the question "How is Cordyceps extracted?" We want to bring you the nitty without getting into the gritty behind the MMM Labs extraction process.

The aim of this blog post is to give you a better understanding of how Bffd compounds are extracted before they are ready for our customers. Our grow facilities are co-located with the MMM Labs facility. This made it easy to grab the master extractor at MMM Labs, Justin Knaub, and do an in-depth interview on the extraction process currently being performed for Bffd tinctures. Justin is always putting out great content on his Instagram - @minerals_mushrooms_coffee

Part 1 - The ethanolic extraction

The first part of the extraction process includes using 95% ethyl alcohol from organic sugar cane to extract compounds such as triterpenes, flavonoids, and volatile minerals and vitamins found in Cordyceps militaris. Freeze dried Cordyceps militaris fruiting body are crushed and filled in a mason jar. The next step involves filling this jar with the 95% ethyl alcohol and placing this in the ultrasonic assisted extractor device. 

This blue jug contains the alcohol we use for our extractions. When the extraction is complete, you are left with an orange liquid with some fruiting body residue remaining. The orange liquid is the Cordyceps militaris "ethanolic extract".

Part of what makes the MMM Labs extractions so special is they perform concentrate-based extractions. 

Although this liquid contains the compounds extracted from Cordyceps militaris, there is still a HEAVY alcohol bite to it. At this point, the orange liquid is essentially pure alcohol with some beneficial Cordyceps militaris compounds floating around in there.

The next step includes separating all the beneficial compounds extracted by the alcohol from the alcohol itself. These beneficial compounds separated from the alcohol are known as the Cordyceps militaris alcohol extracted "concentrate". 

Creating the Cordyceps militaris Alcohol-Extracted Concentrate

Everything from the original mason jar is put through a strainer. The strainer will separate the orange liquid from the rest of the Cordyceps militaris fruiting body. The liquid and tiny compounds that are not filtered out by the strainer are placed into alcohol recovery equipment. The remaining Cordyceps militaris fruiting body are saved for a hot water extraction (which we'll cover in the next section).

Currently, MMM Labs uses the Extract Craft SOURCE Turbo for our concentrate-based extractions, but plan on using the Extract Craft EtOH Pro in the near future. This machine will remove the alcohol from the extraction -- allowing for alcohol reuse (this stuff is expensive!). What's left is a powder that contains all the Cordyceps militaris compounds that were extracted. This is the Cordyceps militaris alcohol concentrate powder.

When we say our Bffd tinctures are "concentrate based and dual-extracted". This remaining powder is the "concentrate". The ethanol pulling out these compounds is the "ethanol-extraction" portion of the "dual-extraction".

Hot-water Extraction

Earlier, we mentioned that the liquid and little particles from the Cordyceps militaris alcohol extract making it through the strainer were ran through the Extract Craft machine. What about the material caught by the strainer?

This material is put into a mason jar, filled with hot water, then put into the ultrasonic assisted extractor device...similar to the ethanol extraction process. This liquid is ran through a strainer again. The liquid and little particles making it through this time around are the Cordyceps militaris compounds that are "hot-water" extracted.

MMM Labs then runs this liquid through a Harvest Right Freeze Drier to pull out all the water. What is left is a hot water based Cordyceps militaris concentrate powder. This powder is the second portion of the "dual-extraction" process used for Bffd Tinctures.

The alcohol based concentrate powder and the hot water based concentrate powder are combined together to create the Bffd "dual-extracted concentrate based" tinctures. This powder is packed with powerful compounds. At Bffd, we choose to use 1750mg of this Cordyceps militaris concentrate-based powder per ounce of tincture. Every ounce of liquid contains 80% Hawaiian Volcanic Water and 20% of the 95% organic ethyl alcohol from sugar cane. This makes our tinctures 20% alcohol by volume. We choose to add alcohol to the tincture to preserve the compounds. As far as we know, Bffd Tinctures are the most potent concentrate-based dual extracted Cordyceps militaris tinctures on the market (but we may be wrong).

The other compounds used in Bffd tinctures (goji berries, holy basil, lions mane mushrooms, schisandra berries, etc.) are extracted in a similar fashion. This concentrate-based extraction process perfected by MMM-Labs allows us to transform the Cordyceps militaris we grow at our Hummelstown, PA facilities and the other herbal matter we receive from trusted sources into delicious, nutrient packed tinctures. The concentrate-based process also allows us to create tinctures without the nasty alcohol bite. The alcohol is removed after the extraction process is complete. The only alcohol that remains is the alcohol used for preservation.

We suggest not exposing our tinctures to extreme heat (such as piping hot coffee fresh off the press). We suggest this because some of the compounds extracted by the alcohol can break down if exposed to high enough temperatures, nullifying some of the benefits.

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There you have it! The MMM Labs concentrate-based, dual-extraction process in a nutshell. Please note there several ways to perform Cordyceps extractions. What was discussed here is how Bffd Cordyceps militaris fruiting body is extracted for our tinctures. Other companies may have their own extraction techniques. 

We've thanked our man, Justin Knaub before...and we're thanking him again here as he was a big time help in putting this post together. Also a huge thank you to Christian Rockey for helping things click for me when some of Justin's explanations were going over my head. The MMM Labs team is absolutely world class. They are world class people and are world class extractors. If you'd like to try one of our Bffd Tinctures (all Bffd Tinctures are crafted by MMM Labs), please use this link. They'll receive a kickback if you make your purchase there. You will also receive a 10% discount if we do not have any larger scale discounts taking place.

All value gained from this article are thanks to the brilliance of Justin and Christian. All mistakes made or missed citations are a fault of mine and a fault of me alone.

Much love and Be your Best,

Johnny

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

The MMM Labs team was my only reference in creating this article

MMM Labs Affiliate Link - 10% discount if no larger discounts are occurring

For those interested in exploring the scientific basis of cordyceps benefits further, reputable sources such as PubMed and Google Scholar offer a wealth of research articles and studies on the topic.

Also, stay up to date with Bffd Cordyceps Research on our YouTube Channel, Instagram and website.