Turkey tail
Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) is a leathery bracket fungus that grows on dead wood. One extract of it, PSK, has been used in Japan alongside cancer treatment since the mid-1970s, making it one of the most tested mushroom extracts in clinical trials.
No set daily amount
Add-on only given with surgery and chemotherapy, never instead of them
Mid-1970s · when Japan approved PSK, a turkey tail extract, for use with cancer treatment
- In food None too tough to eat
- In supplements Teas and extracts also capsules of mycelium
- Studied compounds PSK and PSP protein-bound polysaccharides
- Evidence in people Some, for PSK little for store products
From the NIH National Cancer Institute summary on medicinal mushrooms. No food figures: turkey tail is not a food.
Where Turkey Tail Comes From
Food supplies none. Turkey tail is one of the most common fungi on fallen logs worldwide, but it is too thin and leathery to cook.
- Teadried caps simmered in water, the traditional use in China
- Supplementscapsules of ground fruiting body or mycelium and hot water extracts; the main source for most people
- PSK and PSPstandardized extracts from cultured strains, used as medicines in Japan and China; neither is approved as a drug in the US
What Is Turkey Tail?
Turkey tail grows in overlapping fans, each only a few millimeters thick, with rings of brown, rust, tan, and gray. It breaks down dead hardwood, and its underside has tiny pores rather than gills. Its scientific name, Trametes versicolor, means of many colors; older papers call it Coriolus versicolor.
Turkey Tail, PSK, and Cancer Trials
Turkey tail tea has a long history in Chinese medicine. In the 1960s and 1970s the Japanese company Kureha developed PSK (polysaccharide-K, sold as Krestin): a sugar chain bound to protein, extracted from the mycelium of one cultured strain. Japan approved it as a medicine in the mid-1970s.
PSK is not taken to kill tumors directly. In lab and animal studies it changed how immune cells behave, and in people it is given alongside surgery and chemotherapy. Randomized trials in Japan, mostly in stomach and colorectal cancer after surgery, found longer survival in some studies when PSK was added, though not in all.
In China, a related extract from a different strain, PSP (polysaccharide peptide), has been tested in smaller trials. Neither PSK nor PSP is approved in the US.
Turkey Tail Capsules vs. PSK
The PSK trials tested one purified extract, from one strain, at a fixed dose, in patients also getting standard treatment. A capsule of ground turkey tail is the whole fungus, or mycelium grown on grain, with an unknown share of protein-bound polysaccharides. Its effect cannot be read from those trials.
Is Turkey Tail Safe?
- Side effectsfew were reported in trials of PSK, which was generally well tolerated
- During cancer treatmenttalk to the care team before adding any mushroom product to chemotherapy or radiation
Shiitake is the source of lentinan, another mushroom extract given alongside cancer treatment in Japan. Reishi is sold for similar uses, with weaker trial evidence.
Sources are listed at the end of this page. Not medical advice.
Tracking Turkey Tail in Caltide
- Not totaled yetCaltide does not add up turkey tail polysaccharides yet, and its tea or capsules add almost no calories. Edible mushrooms are in the food library with their full breakdown.
Related Nutrients
Turkey Tail Sources and References
The figures and claims on this page are checked against these sources.
Questions About Turkey Tail
Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor, also called Coriolus versicolor) is a thin, leathery bracket fungus that grows on dead wood. Its fan-shaped caps have bands of brown, tan, and gray that look like a turkey's tail feathers.
PSK (polysaccharide-K, sold as Krestin) is a protein-bound polysaccharide extract made from turkey tail mycelium. It has been approved in Japan since the mid-1970s for use alongside standard cancer treatment.
Only as an add-on, and only PSK has much evidence. Trials in Japan, mainly in stomach and colorectal cancer, found longer survival in some studies when PSK was added to chemotherapy. It is not approved for this in the US.
No. PSK is one standardized extract from one cultured strain, given in measured doses. A store capsule of ground turkey tail or its mycelium has not been tested in those trials.
PSP (polysaccharide peptide) is a similar extract from a different turkey tail strain, developed in China. It has been studied there, with fewer trials than PSK.
Few side effects were reported in clinical trials of PSK, and it was generally well tolerated. Anyone in cancer treatment should talk to their care team before adding it.
Not as a meal. It is too tough and leathery to chew, so people simmer it into tea or take it as a powder or extract.
Not yet. Caltide does not total turkey tail polysaccharides, and its tea or capsules add almost nothing to your calories.
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