White Yeti - 25-11-2012 at 09:57
I wrote this index almost a year ago, today, and posted it in the biochemistry sub-forum. I didn't realize that this may be a better place to post it.
I would like to say that I am impressed by the quality of posts on this sub-forum and I hope that my contribution will be a useful addition.
I understand that this is a rather different kind of write-up (compared to other pre-publications), but I was hoping that it would be useful for at
least a few people interested in medical research. My intention was to write a comprehensive summary of biologically valuable fungi species. I
organized them as best I could, and in the most logical and useful manner possible so that it could be easy to use.
Let me know if you have any ideas on how to improve this list, if there are species you would like to add, or remove, if there are any glaring
mistakes, repeats, redundancies &cetera...
I have a Plantae version in the works, but it's proving itself a mighty endeavour. I started 6 months ago, sifted through ~30 families,
gathered about 800 species. I'm foreseeing an Excel spreadsheet as a classification method.
Attachment: Fungi index.docx (134kB)
This file has been downloaded 2472 times
violet sin - 25-11-2012 at 14:52
nice work, looks tedious. oddly I am just about to go mushroom hunting now.. for food though not drugs or health benefits. I can never seem to get
enough picked during the wet season to go with out want during dry season sadly. giving it a valiant effort this year 
did you study any as to how long medicinal tinctures etc. would shelf? that is an
awful broad question I realize, but a generalized answer would be more than adequate. I come across a lot of medicinal mushrooms but never gave much
thought to extraction and storing b/c I rarely have need of such. also the woody shelf mushies and lill frilly branch loving versions come in quite a
variety, differentiated by only slight color and textures. if you don't know any relative storage lifes, it's all good I have many books to read
from, just they are at home and I wont be for another month. thanks for sharing
White Yeti - 25-11-2012 at 15:30
I'm not sure about the shelf lives of these extracts, but I do know that it's advisable to store them in a freezer. Generally, the ethanol, methanol,
or any other organic solvents have denaturing properties and can deactivate the enzymes responsible for degrading the active components of the
extract. This is why absolute ethanol preserves biological specimens quite well--although it has its limits. On that same note, ethanol can also
denature proteins that may be of pharmaceutical value.
To the best of my knowledge, biological extracts can be stored indefinitely if properlydried and frozen. You could also try gently drying
your specimens and then refrigerating or freezing them. Freeze drying is also another potential alternative if you're interested in the process.
I would advise against drying and storing at room temperature. I though this was a viable alternative, until my sample of Trametes versicolor
started to show signs of decay, even though I stored it away from moisture.
There are also some methods for keeping samples of fungi tissues alive for propagation and culture, but these methods are quite complex and sensitive
to the way you prepare the sample.
Biology can be a delicate science, there are so many variables to keep track of, and many things that can go wrong. Keeping a living or once living
creature on a shelf is definitely more difficult than keeping hydrogen peroxide away from sunlight and moisture. Some may argue otherwise, but that
has generally been my experience.
zoombafu - 8-12-2012 at 14:24
The method I use for storage: Mushrooms are dried in a mason jar filled with calcium chloride, I then refrigerate them. Never had an issue with mold
or decay. Live fungus I've kept for up to a month in refrigeration without decay.
violet sin - 8-12-2012 at 19:33
zoombafu- ya the ones I eat (food ) are usually chipped, dried and jarred. or
parboiled and frozen in butter/oil. that way you just add more flavors to it or add it to foods. but I didn't really wanna keep jar after jar of
medicinal mushroom around.
that's why I was wondering about an extract or tincture. as noted above, it seems as though a tincture in freezer may be the best route. and dry
freezing i could do. thanks white yeti, I also have a lot of trametes versicolor and more around. man I just jumped over a whole tree that was downed
and COVERED in them. big guy, looked like a frilly mushroom in and of it self.
I have also managed to start a few colonies of primary decomposers, not hard to keep humidity up and admix some wood chips with mycelium your
after. kept em alive long enough to watch the spring tails come thru and DEVOUR everything. but guess I did a decent job... they were alive in my
care 6month before that happened. so it may have been a symptom of abuse. they got dry once or twice but handled it well. i though.
it would be nice to learn some more about them first. sound like I can use your chart white yeti thanks for the reference material and answer.
I will try to post anything useful or interesting if it happens, to contribute
chemrox - 8-12-2012 at 22:00
Are these extracts ones you made? Are there literature sources for some of these or are they all creditable to you? I would encourage you to provide
some background information and if appropriate a bibliography. It would benefit from some footnotes as well. Nice start! Keep going, please.
White Yeti - 9-12-2012 at 09:12
There are sources associated with these, but I thought they would end up cluttering the list if I included them; I wanted to keep it brief and easy to
use. I didn't see the need to include them at the time, because I focused mainly on making a comprehensive index. The sources can easily be found via
a cursory search online or at a local library. I understand that it's unconventional, I've never seen a scientific paper without citations, but this
is more of an index. If I included sources, this list would be unbelievably tedious to read through.
zoombafu - 9-12-2012 at 10:37
you could number the substances, and put references on a separate page. That would keep it easy to read, and include the references for further
research.