WHAT IS CHAGA MUSHROOM? CHAGA MUSHROOM IS A NON-TOXIC MUSHROOM WITH EXTREMELY HIGH AMOUNT OF ANTIOXIDANTS. THIS MUSHROOM DIFFERS FROM OTHER MUSHROOMS AS IT GROWS BY EXTRACTING NUTRIENT FROM LIVING TREES INSTEAD OF THE DEAD ONES. CHAGA MUSHROOMS PRIMARILY GROW ON BIRCH TREES AND ARE ONLY FOUND IN THE COLDEST LOCATIONS OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. THIS UNIQUE FACTOR MAKES CHAGA MUSHROOMS EXCLUSIVE TO RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE, CANADA, KOREA, AND SOME PARTS IN THE UNITED STATES. IN ADDITION TO THIS EXCLUSIVITY, CHAGA MUSHROOMS TAKE AT LEAST 5 YEARS TO MATURE, AND ARE VERY RARE. ALSO, CHAGA MUSHROOMS CANNOT BE CULTIVATED. SEVERAL ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO CULTIVATE CHAGA MUSHROOMS, BUT EVERY ATTEMPT RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED AND DIFFERENT BIOACTIVE CONSTITUENTS. THE APPEARANCE OF CHAGA MUSHROOMS IS SIMILAR TO BURNT WOOD ON THE OUTSIDE, AND ORANGE INSIDE. THE MUSHROOM IS HARVESTED ON SELECTED BIRCH TREES ONLY ONCE IN 20 YEARS. IN ADDITION, OUT OF A HUNDRED TREES HARVESTED, ONLY 2 % TO 3 % OF THE HARVESTED CHAGA ARE CERTIFIED AS �SUPERIOR GRADE�. MANY COMMERCIAL FORAGERS ARE HIGHLY MOTIVATED TO HARVEST CHAGA MUSHROOMS BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH VALUE. SUPERIORITY OF CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS HIGHER MELANIN CONCENTRATION CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS HAVE HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF MELANIN, WHICH MAKES IT TO HAVE MORE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY EFFECT COMPARED TO OTHER CHAGA MUSHROOMS HARVESTED FROM OTHER REGIONS. THIS IS BECAUSE CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS RECEIVE RELATIVELY HIGHER AMOUNT OF ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT COMPARED TO CHAGA MUSHROOMS FOUND IN OTHER REGIONS. CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS, AS A RESULT, PRODUCES MORE MELANIN AND CONTAINS HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF VITAMIN D. FROM UNPOLLUTED NORTHERN CANADA CHAGA MUSHROOMS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE HIGHER QUALITY NUTRITION WHEN THEY ARE GROWN IN COLDER REGIONS BECAUSE CHAGA MUSHROOMS TEND TO STORE VALUABLE NUTRIENTS IN THEMSELVES IN COLDER HABITATS. DESPITE THE FACT, MOST COMMERCIALLY MARKETED CHAGA MUSHROOMS TEND TO BE HARVESTED FROM THE WARM CLIMATE REGIONS BECAUSE CHAGA GROWS FASTER AND IS CHEAPER. NORTHERN CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS ARE SLOWLY GROWN IN EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER WHERE THERE IS NO ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION. THIS IS WHY CANADIAN CHAGA MUSHROOMS HAVE BETTER QUALITY THAN THE ONES HARVESTED FROM OTHER REGIONS. NAKAJIMA Y, SATO Y, KONISHI T. ANTIOXIDANT SMALL PHENOLIC INGREDIENTS IN INONOTUS OBLIQUUS (PERSOON) PILAT (CHAGA). CHEMICAL PHARMACEUTICAL BULLETIN 2007; 55(8):1222-1226. WON DP, LEE JS, KWON DS, LEE KE, SHIN WC, HONG EK. IMMUNOSTIMULATING ACTIVITY BY POLYSACCHARIDES ISOLATED FROM FRUITING BODY OF INONOTUS OBLIQUUS. MOLECULES AND CELLS 2011; 31(2):165-173. YOUN MJ, KIM JK, PARK SY, KIM Y, PARK C, KIM ES, PARK KI, SO HS, PARK R. POTENTIAL ANTICANCER PROPERTIES OF THE WATER EXTRACT OF INONOTUS OBLIQUUS BY INDUCTION OF APOPTOSIS IN MELANOMA B16-10 CELLS. JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 2009; 121(2):221-228. DU XJ, MU H, ZHOU S, ZHANG Y, ZHU XL. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF POLYSACCHARIDES EXTRACTED FROM INONOTUS OBLIQUUS SCLEROTIA. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES 2013; 62:691-696. JU HK, CHUNG HW, HONG SS, PARK JH, LEE J, KWON SW. EFFECT OF STEAM TREATMENT ON SOLUBLE PHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE CHAGA MUSHROOM (INONOTUS OBLIQUUS). FOOD CHEMISTRY 2008; 119(2):619-625. NING X, LUO Q, LI C, DING Z, PANG J, ZHAO C. INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF A POLYSACCHARIDE EXTRACT FROM THE CHAGA MEDICINAL MUSHROOM, INONOTUS OBLIQUUS (HIGHER BASIDIOMYCETES), ON THE PROLIFERATION OF HUMAN NEUROGLIOCYTOMA CELLS. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS 2014; 16(1):29-36. This page is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the medicinal ingredient.