Peter, This may be best answered by Doug, Malcolm or Renee who have more tincture experience than I. The Chaga mushroom looks very interesting. Tincturing of muchrooms is common and in fact my first tincture was of a fungus because of the high cost of the commercial tincture. One problem of tincturing is determining the type of solvent the targeted substances are soluble in. Generally I prefer to extract all the components within an herb so I use an alcohol tincture that should extract both water and oil soluble components. More recently I have also used DMSO to help increase the boiavailibility of some substances that have a low bioavailibility. Also some substances are more soluble in DMSO although some are not. Finding the solubility of all the individual components within a plant is difficult if not sometimes impossible. Up till recently I used a water extraction, decoction, or alcohol or DMSO tincture. Lately I have been considering alcohol with DMSO in a single tincture but I don't for sure that that it is better. In answer to your question, DMSO can improve bioavailability esp with substances that have a lower biiavailability normally. It may not always be necessary but it won't hurt that I know of. I think that it might be good to use with Chaga given the large number of substances contained in it. - Steve N
----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Converse <[email protected]> To: Malcolm <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Sat Oct 03 10:24:43 2009 Subject: Re: CS>DMSO and poke Hi Steve, Malcolm, Doug and all, I have been looking into a mushroom called Chaga lately which grows on birch trees primarily and in colder climates. It has a history of immune enhancement in Russia and has been used there to help in the recovery of cancer patients as well as as a preventative. Its properties can be better explained in the links below. I have read of several different ways to prepare it. I am wondering if Chaga tincture could be made with DMSO to help achieve good penetration as one might do with herbs. Any thoughts anyone? http://www.wholife.com/issues/9_4/03_article.html http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/the-chaga-natures-medicinal-mushroom/ http://www.sunfood.com/buy/1/34/Chaga-Extract-Mushroom-Science-90-veg-caps-Wild-Crafted-1433.aspx http://www.raysahelian.com/chaga.html http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~5349~gid~~source~gallerydefault.asp http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomchaga.html http://www.mushroomharvest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36_39&products_id=161 http://www.optimallyorganic.com/Chaga.htm?gclid=CLv4nZPSmZ0CFZJM5Qodhlg_3A http://www.premiumchaga.com/index.html http://www.chagatrade.ru/ http://www.mychaga.com/default.aspx http://www.mitobi.com/chaga.html Blessings, Peter
