Updated
Maitake
A big grey rosette at the base of old oaks, prized as food. The part that gets studied is its D-fraction glucan, not the mushroom.
A first trial
Where it stands: 6 registered trials in people, one of which has reported; 4 randomised trials published since 2009.
What it is taken for
One tile per use. The line under each is how far the evidence for that use actually got, counted rather than argued.
What it has been tried for, and how far that has got
One row per use. The label is counted rather than argued — it is set by how many randomised trials and posted results exist for that use, and nothing else. How that is worked out.
| Use | How far it has got | Trials | With a result | Randomised, published | Reviews | Commonly taken for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer, supportive and adjuvant | A first trial | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | yes |
| Memory and focus | A first trial | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Lungs and breathing | A first trial | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Fatigue and energy | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Nutrition | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Blood sugar | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Cholesterol and lipids | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Immune function | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
Commonly taken for immune function, blood sugar, cholesterol and lipids. The work there is still laboratory and animal work — often a great deal of it — and the step into a trial in people has not been taken yet.
The doses the protocols actually specify
Taken verbatim from the intervention description each trial filed. These are not recommendations and they are not comparable to each other: some are a whole-mushroom powder, some a purified fraction.
| Dose as filed | Study | Condition | People |
|---|---|---|---|
3mg/kg | Does Maitake Mushroom Extract Enhance Hematopoiesis in Myelodysplastic Patients? | Myelodysplastic Syndrome | 45 |
75 mg | Study of Grifola Frondosa (Maitake), Azacitidine, and Lenalidomide | Advanced Cancers | 1 |
10 mg | Study of Grifola Frondosa (Maitake), Azacitidine, and Lenalidomide | Advanced Cancers | 1 |
3 mg/kg | Study of Grifola Frondosa (Maitake), Azacitidine, and Lenalidomide | Advanced Cancers | 1 |
Every registered study that names it
From ClinicalTrials.gov, filtered to studies that name Grifola frondosa or a synonym in the title, summary or intervention. Studies that have posted results come first.
| Register | Study | Condition | People | Status | Result posted | Dose in the protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT01099917 | Does Maitake Mushroom Extract Enhance Hematopoiesis in Myelodysplastic Patients? | Myelodysplastic Syndrome | 45 | Completed | yes | 3mg/kg |
| NCT06323473 | Maitake for Integrative Cancer Care | Cancer | 20 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT01200004 | Study of Grifola Frondosa (Maitake), Azacitidine, and Lenalidomide | Advanced Cancers | 1 | Terminated | — | 75 mg, 10 mg |
| NCT05130905 | RiteStart Personal Nutritional Dietary Study one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Healthy Nutrition | 20 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT04821258 | Effect of the Nutraceutical "MICODIGEST 2.0" on the Complications After Surgery for Colorectal Cancer | Colorectal Cancer, Surgery--Complications | 48 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT06599710 | The Effects of a Food Product Containing Mushroom Extracts (AndoSanTM) in Subjects With Colorectal Cancer-rela | Cancer-related Fatigue | — | Withdrawn | — | — |
| NCT02603016 | Efficacy Study of Clinical Nutrition to Treat Lung Neoplasms And Breast Carcinoma | Lung Neoplasms, Breast Neoplasms | 480 | Completed | — | — |
The compounds the research names
Formula and mass from PubChem. Naming a compound is not a claim that it does anything in a person.
C18H32O16
What it looks like in the field
Research-grade observations, each by a different photographer. Every one links to the record it came from.
In the kitchen
Deeply savoury and peppery, one of the best-flavoured mushrooms there is.
Torn into fronds and roasted hard, or fried in tempura batter, which is the classic Japanese treatment. Keeps its texture better than most.
Where it has been recorded, and when it fruits
24,762 verified occurrence records with coordinates, from GBIF. This is where people have recorded it, which follows where recorders live as much as where the fungus grows — read the shape, not the ranking.
| United States | 8,197 | |
| Netherlands | 7,497 | |
| Sweden | 2,736 | |
| United Kingdom | 2,410 | |
| Denmark | 661 | |
| Germany | 560 | |
| Norway | 551 | |
| Canada | 456 | |
| France | 454 | |
| Belgium | 369 | |
| Switzerland | 150 | |
| Finland | 131 |
Most records fall in Oct. Northern-hemisphere recorders dominate the dataset, so a southern population would not show here.
iNaturalist separately holds 14,688 research-grade observations of it.
What has been reported going wrong
7 voluntary reports to the US Food and Drug Administration name a product by this mushroom's name. A report is someone saying something happened after taking something. It is not a finding that the product caused it, the FDA says so itself, and nobody knows how many people took the product without reporting anything.
| Abdominal Pain | 1 |
| Abdominal Pain Upper | 1 |
| Aphagia | 1 |
| Back Pain | 1 |
| Blood Potassium Decreased | 1 |
| Blood Urine Present | 1 |
| Blood Pressure Increased | 1 |
| Computerised Tomogram Abnormal | 1 |
| Dyspepsia | 1 |
| Dysphagia | 1 |
| Diarrhoea | 1 |
| Dyspnoea | 1 |
| Other Serious or Important Medical Event | 4 |
| Visited Emergency Room | 2 |
| Visited a Health Care Provider | 2 |
| Allergic Reaction | 1 |
| Disability | 1 |
| Hospitalization | 1 |
| Life Threatening | 1 |
| Other Outcome | 1 |
The newest randomised trials and reviews
Indexed in Europe PMC. Titles and journals only — follow the link to read the paper where the publisher allows it.