Organic Trametes versicolor (polypore mushroom) supplement

Organic Turkey Tail is a high-quality dietary supplement composed of extract of Turkey Tail. This medicinal mushroom offers high immunostimulant and antioxidant potency.

Though it remains little-known in the West, it is a popular remedy in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine.

It is the mushroom’s content of the complex carbohydrates polysaccharides and numerous phenolic compounds which are responsible for its considerable efficacy.

Pro-immunity mushroom that resembles a turkey tail

What is Trametes versicolor?

Turkey Tail, or to give its scientific name, Trametes versicolor, is a lignivore mushroom which means it feeds on wood. It usually grows on the trunks of deciduous trees like beeches and birches, in a wide variety of places and in many different climates.

Its common name Turkey Tail comes from its upright shape and graded shades of brown reminiscent of a wild turkey’s tail fan. It is also known as Coriolus versicolor, kawaratake (‘beside-the-river mushroom’ in Japanese) and yun-zhi (‘cloud mushroom’ in Chinese).

A mushroom rich in PSP and PSK polysaccharides

Turkey tail contains several nutrients responsible for its exceptional properties (1-2). In particular, it provides a wide range of polysaccharides. These natural carbohydrates, formed by the condensation of small simple sugars, are known for their multiple benefits to the body.

After fermentation of Turkey Tail mycelium, that is to say its root-like structure, you will find more specifically:

• polysaccharide-peptides (PSP). These long-chain sugars are able to stimulate the activity of macrophages and T lymphocytes (3-4);
• and polysaccharide-K or Krestin (PSK). These other complex carbohydrates have been used as a chemo-immunotherapy agent in several Asian countries for more than 30 years (5).

What benefits does the supplement Organic Turkey Tail offer?

It helps improve the immune response

First and foremost, Organic Turkey Tail helps boost the body’s immune response.

The polysaccharides in the mushroom Trametes versicolor are known to be effective at activating immune cells. (6) These compounds, referred to as ‘biological response modifiers’, also act by improving the expression of cytokines and chemokines (7-8).

Stimulating immune function naturally increases the body’s protection by making it more resistant to pathogens.

Turkey Tail: effective against infection

Turkey Tail also acts directly against various aggressors such as viruses and bacteria. One study noted its potential as an anti-influenza and anti-herpes agent, and even attributed it with a ‘high therapeutic index’. (9)

This mushroom is also useful in fighting multiple bacteria (10). Let’s not forget that antibiotics, the drugs prescribed for eliminating or limiting bacteria, are themselves often extracts of medicinal fungi.

The polysaccharide-peptides in Trametes versicolor are, amongst others, able to eliminate harmful gut bacteria and thus play a genuine prebiotic role in the body. (11-12) This ability to regulate intestinal microbiota further contributes to this mushroom’s immunomodulatory power. (13)

A powerful antioxidant, rich in phenolic compounds

Lastly, Organic Turkey Tail also helps to combat oxidative stress. As we know, this oxidation process unleashes a flood of free radicals in the body, which result in cellular ageing and can lead to chronic inflammation. Turkey tail, a potent antioxidant, counteracts this damage. (29)

This mushroom is in fact a rich natural source of antioxidants, containing numerous phenolic compounds: one study revealed that the phenol-acids in an aqueous extract of turkey tail helped to, amongst others, inhibit DPPH and OH free radicals, as well as acetylcholinesterase (AchE). (30) Among the other phenolic compounds found in Turkey Tail are flavonoids, the well-known and highly effective antioxidants (31-32), not forgetting its high content of terpenoids or terpenes, another family of antioxidant metabolites. (33-34)

Finally, the results of a 2015 study suggest that extract of Trametes versicolor may also have anti-genotoxic properties – in other words, its components may be able to directly protect a cell’s genome. (35)