How to Identify Real and Fake Lingzhi

Lingzhi is a fungus with obvious medicinal effects of replenishing qi and calming the nerves. I believe everyone is familiar with it. If there are people with weak constitutions in your family or friends who need tonic after surgery, Lingzhi is one of the best choices. Ganoderma lucidum is expensive so unscrupulous vendors often deceive consumers by selling counterfeit products. Today we will learn how to identify the authenticity of Ganoderma lucidum.

1. Ganoderma lucidum powder is light brown, tan to purple brown. The hyphae are scattered or stuck together, colorless or light brown, slender, slightly curved, branched, and 2.5 to 6.5 μm in diameter. The spores are brown, oval, truncated at the apex, colorless on the outer wall, with wart-like protrusions on the inner wall, 8 to 12 μm long and 5 to 8 μm wide. The color, shape, and size of artificially cultivated Ganoderma lucidum are relatively uniform and regular. The cap is kidney-shaped, semicircular, or nearly circular; the cap surface is yellowish brown to reddish brown, the cap edge is light yellowish brown, with concentric rings and grooves, and longitudinal wrinkles, and the surface is shiny. However, wild Ganoderma lucidum is not uniform in color, has different shapes and sizes, and has no obvious gloss on the surface.

2. Take 2g of Ganoderma lucidum powder, add 30ml of ethanol, heat and reflux for 30 minutes, filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, add 2ml of methanol to the residue to dissolve it, and use it as the test solution. Take another 2 g of Ganoderma lucidum reference medicinal material and prepare a reference medicinal material solution in the same manner. According to the thin layer chromatography method (Appendix ⅥB), 4 μl of each of the above two solutions were taken and spotted on the same silica gel G thin layer plate. The upper layer solution of petroleum ether (60-90°C)-ethyl formate-formic acid (15:5:1) was used as the developing agent. The plate was developed, taken out, dried, and examined under ultraviolet light (365 nm). In the chromatogram of the test sample, fluorescent spots of the same color appear at the corresponding positions in the chromatogram of the control medicinal material.

3. There are 108 types of Ganoderma lucidum, including green Ganoderma, red Ganoderma, white Ganoderma, purple Ganoderma, etc. Not every type of Ganoderma is effective. Generally, pharmaceutical companies choose Ganoderma lucidum, which is divided into 32 types. Those who purchase Ganoderma lucidum must carefully identify it. It is dark brown in color and has no peculiar smell. Ganoderma lucidum: The appearance is umbrella-shaped, the cap is kidney-shaped, semicircular or nearly circular, with a diameter of 10 to 18 cm and a thickness of 1 to 2 cm. The skin is hard, yellowish brown to reddish brown, shiny, with annular ridges and radial wrinkles, thin and truncate edges, often slightly curled inward. The flesh is white to light brown. The stipe is cylindrical, lateral, rarely eccentric, 7 to 15 cm long, 1 to 3.5 cm in diameter, reddish brown to purple brown, and shiny. The spores are small and yellowish brown. Slight fragrance, bitter taste. Ganoderma lucidum: The skin is purple-black with a lacquer-like luster. The flesh is rusty brown. The stipe is 17 to 23 cm long.

How to distinguish real and fake Ganoderma lucidum? I believe everyone knows the methods through the introduction in the article. Although I have learned how to identify the authenticity of Ganoderma lucidum, if I want to buy it with assurance, it is still safest to buy it in a pharmacy. Finally, a warm reminder: if you suffer from high blood pressure or want to beautify your skin or improve your sexual performance, you can also take Ganoderma lucidum for conditioning.