▲ Jirisan Sanghwang Mushroom Co / CEO Gwangduk Bang

Sanghwang is the word originated from Chinese meaning mulberry and yellow. Sanghwang mushroom is known as mud mushroom and has excellent anti-cancer effect thanks to rich beta-glucan it contains. Jirisan Sanghwang Mushroom Co CEO Gwangduk Bang has grown sanghwang mushroom in Sancheong County for 21 years and is an expert in the field.

The mushroom is parasitic in dead trees. Ancient oriental medicine books record that it has no poison but controls poison. For this reason, the mushroom was called ‘mystical medicine’ among ancient folks who circulated words around that the dead wakes up when eaten yellow mushroom. 

The mushroom is rich in amino acid, hydrocarbon, fatty acid, enzyme, K, Ca, vitamin B and above all beta-glucan. A test tells us that the activity of cancer cell was suppressed when the doctor inserted polysaccharide of sanghwang mushroom.

The best way to take sanghwang mushroom is to boil it in the water and drink it like a tea every day. The water becomes yellow when boiling and it is tasteless and odorless. The best way to keep the mushroom is in a dried place and you better boil it immediately when it gets wet and keep it in the fridge. 

CEO Bang used to work for a major company but moved down to Sancheong County when the IMF hit South Korea in 1997. 

“You have to quit one day if you are an employee but you don’t need to if you are self-employed like a farmer. So I chose to be a farmer and I like the fact that farmers harvest what they sow.”

Bang starts culturing the mushroom from December to February and harvests in November. He does all of these works by hands at 15 cultivation rooms which produces 3 tons of sanghwang mushroom yearly and creates around 300 million won (251,151 dollars) sales. 

“The mushrooms have been grown eco-friendly ways since 2013 and obtained Good Agricultural Practices in 2017 for not using pesticides. So it is safe to eat.”

When asked about future plan, he said that he would keep studying and working hard so that more people can benefit from excellent values and effects of sanghwang mushroom.