Wood Ear Tincture

Easily the strangest mushroom in our armamentarium, this gelatinous, bizarre looking mushroom is known throughout the world for its wonderful culinary uses & its extraordinary medicinal benefits. The first mention of wood ear mushrooms come from the Tang dynasty around 618 - 907 BCE where it is heralded as the first species to be cultivated, however this mushroom is much more infamous thanks to a fable from biblical times - the legend goes that Judas Iscariot after betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver hung himself from an elder tree in town, towns folk gathered around the following morning & to their astonishment they saw little rubbery ears growing from the base of the tree. It is believed that Judas' wished to atone for his transgressions & thus left a piece of himself on earth in the hopes of one day hearing the return of his lord - he could then return & ask for forgiveness.

The wood ear mushroom has been used the world over for many centuries - it is renowned as a great edible in times of famine in places like Hawaii, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand. China & Japanall calling it different names but with the same meaning - ear. It has also garnered a name for itself as a great medicinal ally too, wood ears were used in folk medicine in the west for complaints including sore throats, sore eyes, & jaundice - it was also boiled in milk, beer, vinegar or any other convenient liquid & taken for inflammation of the throat.

In Ghana & other parts of africa this mushroom was correctly used as a blood tonic, but by far the majority of medical history comes form ancient asia where it was & still is used to activate blood, stop pain, & assist circulation. Wood ear mushrooms contain some interesting phytochemicals including beta glucans, proteoglycans, adenosine & various active polysaccharides such as heteropolysaccharide glucans & acidic heteroglycans. Various auricularia species are used interchangeably - they show great all round health promoting benefits but by far its most prized & unmatched potential lies in improving the cardiovascular system. Adenosine in wood ears showed a potent inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation, blood clotting, improved blood pressure & heart health. It does this by inhibiting ADP-induced aggregation of platelets thereby warding off cerebrovascular & cardiovascular diseases. Reduced levels of serum LDL cholesterol are also seen from this fungus

Long term uses has been verified to help to keep cholesterol levels in check & the various polysaccharides in this mushroom have a direct action on coagulation & blood clotting. This can help to improve circulation & may prevent heart attacks, strokes & arterial damage that can lead to heart disease. Various studies have proven that this mushroom decreases the atherogenic index by up to 40 percent (measure used to predict the risk of heart disease & plaque build-up in the arteries)

This mushrooms cardio-protective effects have only recently been discovered, thanks to a hematologist attending medical school in Minnesota - the student pricked his finger in a blood clotting test, when his blood failed to clot the ensuring investigation traced the cause to the wood ear mushrooms he had consumed the night before in a Chinese szechwan restaurant. This amazing discovery is in my opinion one of the most impactful of the 21st century as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the modern world, with numbers growing year on year. We are lucky enough to have three powerful auricularia species growing in our country. We cultivate both a. auricula-judea & a. polytricha for medicinal & culinary use.