Health Information

Sulfur fumigation (SF) is a traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) preservation method which is used as insecticidal, anti-mildew, bleaching, antiseptic as well as providing anti-oxidant effects for TCMs. SF is a widely-used method to prolong the storage life for herbs and TCMs.

There are some TCMs smoked with sulfur available in market. It aims to maintain the dryness, color and prevent insects for TCMs, such as yam and angelica both are likely smoked by sulfur. However, abuse or excessive use of sulfur maybe harmful to the human health. 

On the other hand, the efficacy of those smoked-sulfur TCMs are possibly affected but also increase the risk of irritation to the stomach or trachea, asthma, cough, headache or nausea for excessive intake. For the long-term excessive exposure, it will also induce respiratory diseases for human.

Therefore, it would highly recommend purchasing TCMs at the registered licensed retailers to ensure the quality and safety of the products instead of purchasing the TCMs of unknown origin.

There are three types of mushrooms available in market: Natural dried mushrooms, imitated wooden mushrooms and wood shredded mushrooms:
 
1) Natural Dried Mushrooms: Use natural woods for planting -  the mushrooms grow on natural woods allowing its spores to absorb sufficient nutrients from the wood and grow relatively slower than the other two types of mushrooms. 

The appearance and taste of natural dried mushrooms - the incisions of the cap of those mushrooms are uneven, and its lids have "popped flower" bumps. It tastes smooth and strong flavor. The preferred size of the mushroom is around two inches.

2) Imitated wooden mushrooms: Use imitating growth environment of woods for planting - the mushroom spores with sawdust seed and grow on the fungus bed. The fungus bed can greatly shorten the planting period and increase the yield. 

The appearance and taste of imitated wooden mushrooms - those mushrooms are smooth and thick with large base. It tastes less mushroom flavor than the natural dried mushrooms . 

3) Wooden shredded mushrooms: Use shredded wood pieces for planting -  the mushrooms cultivated in shredded wood pieces with scientific treatment. So the harvest is large but the product quality would be affected.

The appearance and taste of wooded shredded mushrooms - those mushrooms have smooth cuts and large size but taste less natural mushroom flavors. So the price is relatively cheap.
 
Tips for picking beautiful mushrooms:
High-quality dried mushrooms have large caps (also known as umbrellas) and thick flesh with complete cap edges. The caps have less wrinkles on the surface, and the crack texture is natural, like snowflakes or chrysanthemum petals, and the bottom is golden yellow. The texture of the whole mushroom is hard and clean, the body is dry, and the smell is top-grade.