Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is an esteemed medicinal mushroom that parasitizes birch trees in temperate and boreal forests around the world. It's a slow growing, rock-hard fungus that also happens to make a delicious beverage that is having its moment in the limelight. Chaga tea has been enjoyed for centuries by Siberian peoples and also has a history of use by Native Americans in North America. Nowadays, it can be found starring in many wellness products like tinctures and capsules, and is currently being researched for its potential medicinal properties. Because it's a slow growing fungus, there are some concerns about it being over-harvested, but aspects of fungal biology complicate that question.
The Health Benefits of Chaga
Modern science's adulation with fungi is relatively recent as humans have been foraging and consuming mushrooms for their health benefits since well before recorded history. Our shared struggle for survival has scientists investigating the biological compounds found within mushrooms and how they may help the human body combat bacteria and disease. One of the greatest advancements in antibiotic medicine can be attributed to the introduction of penicillin in the 1940’s, a compound which originated from penicillium mold species. The lineage of medicinal discoveries spans from our ancient ancestors using polypores as medicine, to the discovery of penicillin, to today’s innovations in cancer treatment. These types of discoveries are what continue to make mushrooms, including Chaga, an incredible resource as a natural medicine.
Today, Chaga is one of the most sought after mushrooms for health and wellness next to Cordyceps, Lion's Mane, and Turkey Tail. This is because Chaga has a host of medicinal properties, which include essential b-complex vitamins, potassium, and beta glucans (to name a few). It’s considered a super-food, packed with antioxidants that help boost immunity, stimulate the production of natural energy, and support overall health.
Among the numerous health benefits found in wild Chaga, probably the most important medicinal compound is betulinic acid. Chaga derives its energy from host birch trees by collecting bioactive materials found in its bark, such as betulinic acid, and storing it in the sclerotia (the harvestable part of Chaga). Betulinic acid has been studied in cancer research, with some recent studies discovering a potential link between the consumption of Chaga and the inhibition of certain cancer cells. These studies are ongoing and require further investigation.
Biologically active compounds identified in Chaga:
✔ Melanin
✔ Antioxidant enzymes
✔ Trierpenoids
✔ Ergosterols
✔ Sesquiterpenes
✔ Betulinic acid
✔ Polysaccharides
✔ Phytosterols
Vitamins and minerals identified in Chaga:
✔ B-complex vitamins
✔ Vitamin D
✔ Potassium
✔ Rubidium
✔ Cesium
✔ Amino acids
✔ Fiber
✔ Copper
✔ Selenium
✔ Zinc
✔ Iron
✔ Manganese
✔ Magnesium
✔ Calicum
There are discrepancies between the levels of betulinic acid and other compounds present in Chaga in different regions of the world. Some working research suggests that Chaga grown in colder, harsher environments are more nutrient dense. Though it’s likely that the overall environment, altitude, temperature, species of birch, and quality of soil are greater pieces to the puzzle. When it comes to Chaga, there is still a lot more to uncover.
The Historical Use of Chaga
Little is known about the origin of Chaga and it’s interaction with humanity. The earliest surmised use of Chaga dates back to 1000 BCE Siberia used by the Khanty people in rituals and folk medicine. It was believed that Chaga could help one "attain a long life," and was also used to aid digestion and soothe skin sores. Eventually, the use of Chaga began to pop up all around the world including Europe, Asia, and North America.
Today, the use of Chaga has slowly shifted into the mind's eye of popular culture for purposes not too far off from our ancestors. Truthfully, Chaga isn’t all that difficult to get your hands on either. You can find it in most organic food stores or online among other mushroom supplements. If you live in the northern hemisphere, you might also find them in your neighboring forests. And for the average adventurer, foraging Chaga can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
If you’re interested in learning how to forage for mushrooms and live in an area with birch trees, Chaga is a great mushroom to start with because they’re easy to identify and they don’t have any poisonous look-alikes.
How to Identify & Harvest Chaga Mushrooms
Chaga is typically found in the northern hemisphere growing on the trunks of mature birch trees. Although you can find Chaga year-round, the best time to forage for it is in the winter because it's easy to spot against the snow. It can look somewhat like a dark, charcoaled burrell that is scabby and rough to touch.
You might have better luck finding Chaga in old growth forests due to their incredibly long lifecycle. In 2009, a 10-year study in China found that Chaga has an average growth rate of around one centimeter per year. So if you’ve ever encountered a large Chaga in the woods, it's safe to assume that it's been there for a while!
Besides Chaga’s unique appearance, you can also identify it by examining it from the inside. Chaga has a vibrant orange interior that indicates it’s edibility; the brighter the orange, the fresher the Chaga. It’s possible to find Chaga on other types of trees such as oak, poplar, alder, ash, and maple, but little is known about its edibility or health benefits.
Harvesting Chaga is slightly more involved than other fungi you might forage for in the woods. This is because Chaga is a dense, hard growth that isn’t easily removed by hand. For larger masses, we suggest using a mid-sized hand saw and cutting only what you will use - but you can also use a cement chisel and a mallet in harder to reach spots as well.
How to Harvest Chaga Sustainably
Regardless if you’re foraging wild plants or mushrooms, the number one rule in foraging is to take what you need and leave enough behind for the ecosystem to recover. If a plant or fungus is particularly rare in an ecosystem, it’s best to leave it alone. When foraging anything in the wild these rules are especially important. However, when it comes to mushrooms there are a few caveats. The regenerative property of mushrooms isn’t limited by the total amount foraged because mushrooms inhabit more of their ecosystem than their visible growth may indicate. Meaning, when you forage mushrooms you’re only collecting a small portion of a greater whole.
For example, picking a mushroom is like picking an apple off an apple tree. In the case of the apple, the majority of the organism is the tree. The part you pick is just the ephemeral fruit and has little impact on the greater organism. Similarly picking mushrooms has little impact on the mycelial network that isn't visible to the naked eye. In fact, the largest organism that exists on Earth is a fungus, Armillaria ostoyae or the "humongous fungus," with a mycelial network that stretches for about 3.5 miles underground. Despite the growing concern of overharvesting, you can rest assured that when you harvest a mushroom you’re not killing the whole organism.
Foraging Chaga is a little different because it isn't the mushroom fruit that’s being harvested, it's the sclerotia. The sclerotia can simply be defined as the energy storage vessel of the mushroom. It’s typically a dense or hardened mass of mycelium that contains an amalgamation of life-sustaining nutrients essential for fungal survival in adverse conditions. Technically, there is no current evidence that suggests harvesting the sclerotia of Chaga harms the fungus or prevents it from reproducing. But, a good rule of thumb is to not remove all of the Chaga from the tree, and leave behind at least ⅓ of its total mass.
Should You Harvest Chaga From Dead Trees? The Chaga Life Cycle Explained.
Because Chaga is a parasitic fungus, it isn’t uncommon to find it on dead trees. In fact, the sexual reproductive stage of Chaga begins once the tree is almost, or completely dead. When this happens Chaga will slowly begin to form fruit bodies in the form of tubular pores underneath the bark. Once these fruit bodies have reached maturity, they will spread their spores in order to infect a new host. Once a brand new Chaga manifests within a different tree, it will then live for 10-80+ years and repeat the cycle again.
If you come across a Chaga on a dead tree, the sclerotia of the mushroom is likely already dried out, dead, or contaminated with mycotoxins. It’s generally recommended to avoid harvesting them.
Photos of a Tinder Conk mushroom (Fomes fomentarius) that may be confused with Chaga.
Is Chaga Difficult to Identify? The Common Chaga Look-Alike
Before harvesting Chaga, it’s highly recommended to consult foraging guides or experts for proper identification. Although Chaga doesn’t have any poisonous look-alikes, it’s extremely important to be 100% sure since there are adverse effects to consuming anything improperly identified.
The most common look-alike to the Chaga mushroom is the Tinder Conk (Fomes fomentarius) because of their similarities in color and hardness, and both can be found on birch trees. The differences between them are easy to discern:
• Tinder Conks have pores underneath the cap; Chaga does not have pores
• Tinder Conks grow in shelf formation on the surface of tree trunks; Chaga forms inside the scarring of trees
• Tinder Conks have mushroom “caps”; Chaga forms irregular shapes
• Tinder Conks are somewhat smooth; Chaga is scabby and rough to touch
It’s important to note that Tinder Conks aren’t poisonous, and in fact, highly valued for their medicinal properties. It’s theorized that Tinder Conks were used by neolithic humans as far back as 5,000 years ago. Ötzi the iceman, a five-thousand year old mummy discovered in the European Alps, was reportedly carrying two species of polypore mushrooms. One of which was the famed Tinder Conk.
How to Process and Preserve Chaga
Once you have a wild Chaga mushroom, it’s best to examine it for any impurities such as pieces of bark, bugs, pollen, or really anything you don’t want to grind down into a tea. You can remove these impurities with the brush back of a foraging Opinel knife or you can saw off any unwanted bits and pieces, but make sure not to remove the dark outer crust. This part should be easy as Chaga is fairly unblemished and requires little effort to clean.
When processing a lump of Chaga, it’s easiest to break up into smaller, palm sized pieces before drying it. Ideally, you’ll want to process Chaga the day you get it because it’s interior will be much corkier, and spongy on the inside. This makes it easier to break apart, even by hand. You can use a hammer, small ax, or even a chisel and a mallet to break up the larger pieces.
If you are unable to process Chaga the day you get it, it’s best to store it in a freezer where it won’t be susceptible to mold. This preservation technique works for a variety of medicinal and edible mushrooms.
With your palm-sized pieces, you can dry Chaga using a food dehydrator and wait for it to reach a moisture level between 0-10%. If you don’t have a food dehydrator, you can process them in a warm, dry, and well ventilated area until they become hard and crumbly. Avoid drying Chaga in hot ovens to speed up the process, as it’s possible to strip it of its bioavailable nutrients.
It’s important to note that drying Chaga is ideal for long-term storage. If you plan on using Chaga the day you get it, you can skip these steps.
At North Spore, we use a commercial grade meat grinder to break up large batches of Chaga.
For home foragers, a small manual meat grinder will work just the same!
Now that you’ve successfully dried your Chaga, you can either store it as is, or break it up into smaller pieces for teas and quick extractions. The best place to store Chaga is in an opaque container inside a dry, cool place (such as a tea cabinet).
Like the majority of mushrooms, Chaga contains many long-chain molecules and chitin within its cell walls that make it difficult for the human body to digest when raw. Below, we’ve detailed a few methods on how to properly extract the medicinal compounds within Chaga as a tea or a tincture.
Chaga Tea, Tinctures, and Recipes
A cup of Chaga tea is the perfect warm-up on a cold, winter day. Chaga has a subtle, and distinct flavor that’s much different from herbal teas - it’s pleasantly mild, earthy, and smooth to taste. When sweetened and combined with a splash of cream, it could be compared to a cup of light roast coffee without the acidity. For some, Chaga may be considered an alternative coffee, as it has properties that boost energy without the crash.
How to Make Chaga Tea: Hot Water Extraction Method
Preparing Chaga tea is different from herbal teas - herbal teas are infused with hot water, while Chaga must undergo a process known as decoction. Decoction is an Herbalist term to describe a method of extraction by boiling or simmering a natural material to dissolve its compounds. Because Chaga has a tough exterior, this method is incredibly effective.
How to Make Chaga Tea
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Simmer 1 tbsp of Chaga in 4-6 cups of water for at least 20 minutes, or until the water is opaque and resembles black coffee.
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Strain the grounds out of the water and set aside. Grounds may be reused 2 or 3 times (make sure to simmer for extra time or follow the 'looks like black coffee' rule).
- Add cream and maple syrup to taste.
A few things to note:
• For shorter extractions (30 minutes to an hour and a half): Medicinal potency may be lower, but you can re-use Chaga bits in future extractions.
• For longer extractions (8 hours or more): The medicinal potency may be higher, but this process takes longer and you might not be able to reuse Chaga bits to create more tea. Less volume, but higher reward.
• The potency of your Chaga is indicative of its dark, black coffee consistency. If your tea continues to be transparent or light in color after significant extraction periods, then that Chaga is no longer potent.
• You can store extra Chaga tea in the fridge for no more than two weeks - if you plan on storing it for longer, you can safety store it in the freezer.
Although hot water extraction is an effective and pleasant way to consume Chaga, it has limitations. A proper extraction will contain water-soluble compounds such as: melanins, polyphenols, polysaccharides, beta-glucans, as well as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that support day to day wellness. While, alcohol extractions (tinctures), are better at capturing the medicinal, anticancer properties found in Chaga such as: triterpenes, sterols, betulin, betulinic acid, and lignin.
How to Make a Chaga Tincture
This tincture recipe was developed by Tanya, our in-house herbalist. Dried Chaga should be crushed or otherwise reduced into the smallest pieces possible, using a hammer, mortar/pestle, or meat grinder. Please note that this recipe can be used for other mushrooms like Lion's Mane, Shiitake, Maitake, etc.
Materials needed
• Dried or fresh mushroom fruiting bodies (dried mushrooms allow for more exact measurements and shelf stability)
• 190 proof alcohol
• A jar to soak mushrooms in
• A pot to boil water in
• Cheesecloth & strainer or a French press
• Large measuring cup
• Vegetable glycerine (optional)
Part 1: Alcohol Extraction
1. Fill jar 1/2 (dried) or 3/4 (fresh) the way with mushrooms.
2. Cover with 190 proof alcohol. Shake. (You may also add vegetable glycerin at this point.)
3. Let jar sit in a cool dark place for 4-6 weeks minimum.
4. Strain alcohol through cheesecloth and put aside in a capped jar. (Keep left over mushroom material, AKA marc, for the water extraction.)
Part 2: Water Extraction
1. Put strained mushrooms in a pot. (You may add more fresh or dried fruiting bodies as well at this point.) Radical Mycology suggests a 1:10 mushroom to water ratio, 1 gram of mushroom per 10mL of water.
2. Cover with 3x water as amount of liquid leftover from alcohol extraction. Account for about 1/3 of the water evaporating. (You want to end up with 2x as much water to alcohol, or adjust accordingly depending on what ratio of water:alcohol you want.)
3. Heat and simmer water decoction for 2-3 hours on medium-low heat, being careful to not let mixture reach a full boil.
4. Strain water decoction through cheese cloth. Mix appropriate quantities of water and alcohol extraction to achieve desired level of alcohol percentage. Tinctures should be between 25%-35% alcohol to remain shelf stable, and can last 2-3 years or longer.
Ratios for 190 proof (95% alcohol):
• 1:1 = 47.5% alcohol (1 part water: 1 part alcohol)
• 2:1 = 31.6% alcohol (2 parts water: 1 part alcohol)
• 3.5:1 = 27.1% alcohol (3.5 parts water: 1 part alcohol)
Constituents extracted:
• Alcohol: terpenes, sterols, polypeptides, amino acids
• Hot water: beta-glucans and polysacharrides
• Cold water: Sugars, enzymes (only sometimes)
Final Thoughts on Chaga
As both a tincture and tea, Chaga has been enjoyed for centuries by peoples across the northern hemisphere, and its potential use as a super food to boost immunity, natural energy, and overall health is entering the mainstream. Harvesting and preserving this important natural resource should be done with great care so future generations can enjoy the many benefits of this ancient medicine.
References
Chaga Research Articles:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6142110/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8124789/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684114/
Chaga Life Cycle:
https://www.annandachaga.com/pages/sex-life-of-the-chaga-mushroom
History & Use of Chaga:
http://www.ethnoherbalist.com/chaga-extract-mushroom-tea-benefits/
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210609-alaskas-mushroom-of-immortality
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318527#Nine-potential-benefits
Betulinic Acid & Medicinal Properties:
https://journals.lww.com/anti-cancerdrugs/Abstract/2010/03000/Betulinic_acid,_a_natural_compound_with_potent.1.aspx
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1534735418757912
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6142110/
Additional Reading:
https://www.discovery.com/nature/the-largest-living-thing-on-earth-is-a-3-5-square-mile-fungus
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222280519_The_Iceman's_fungi
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/tzi-the-iceman-what-we-know-30-years-after-his-discovery
https://www.annandachaga.com/pages/harvesting-chaga
https://birchboys.com/blogs/about-our-chaga/comparing-chagas-water-soluble-compounds-to-its-alcohol-soluble-compounds
Marley, Greg. 2009. Mushrooms for Health: Medicinal Secrets of Northeastern Fungi. Down East Books.