Cordyceps militaris—Fruiting Bodies, Mycelium, and Supplements: Valuable Component of Daily Diet

Abstract

Cordyceps militaris has long been used in Eastern medicine for alleviating fatigue and as an immunostimulant. The present study aimed to determine the content of biologically active substances (bioelements and organic compounds), the total phenolic content, and the antioxidant activity of fruiting bodies (commercially available and self-cultivated), mycelia, and two food supplements. The results show that substrate composition and cultivation method had an influence on the properties of mushroom materials. An important aspect of the study is the estimation of the content of bioactive substances present after extraction into digestive juices in the artificial gastrointestinal tract model, which can allow for determining the amount of these substances that is potentially bioavailable for the human body. The best results for cordycepin (81.4 mg/100 g d.w.) and lovastatin (53.6 mg/100 g d.w.) were achieved for commercially available food supplements. Furthermore, after digestion in artificial intestinal juice, the highest amount of cordycepin was determined in the fruiting bodies from commercially obtained (25.9 mg/100 g d.w.) and self-cultivated mushroom (25.8 mg/100 g d.w.). In conclusion, the mycelium and fruiting bodies of C. militaris are ideal food supplements and pharmaceutical agents and can serve as a good source of prohealth substances potentially bioavailable for humans.

Sequential Strain Improvement of Cordyceps militaris

“…Cordycepin production from 0.25, 0.30mgg -1 in wild parent strains increased to 0.910 mgg-1 in fruiting bodies whereas in liquid fermentation it increased from 2.1, 3.2gL Cordycepin produced in solid fermentation by fruiting bodies was 0.81 mg g-1 [33]. Masuda M et al [34] reported maximum of 14.3gl-1 cordycepin production when C. militaris G81-3, the mutant obtained by a proton beam irradiation, was cultivated by liquid surface culture, where as Li w et al (2009) reported 11.9gl-1 cordycepin yield in liquid culture.…”

Effect of Cordyceps spp. and Cordycepin on Functions of Bones and Teeth and Related Processes: A Review

“…Ergothioneine (2-thiol- l -histidine-betaine), also known as thioneine, is a sulfuric derivative of l -histidine with betaine attached to it. C. militaris is a source of ergothioneine, which is present in high concentrations in mycelial cultures at 10.4 mg/100 g dry weight (dw), as well as in self-cultivated and commercially available fruiting bodies [ 16 ].…”

“…In addition, in the intestinal juice, the highest content of calcium was observed in commercially available dietary supplements. These results highlight the need for further research into the bioavailability of C. militaris bioelements [ 16 ].…”

“…and cordycepin interact via the adenosine receptors (ARs), AMPK, and the ATP signaling pathway. The chemical structure of ATP is presented in Figure 1 [ 16 ].…”

Analysis of bioactive compounds in Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies and dietary supplements: in vitro bioaccessibility determination in artificial digestive juices

“…To accurately prepare the extracts and determine the content of organic compounds in the samples, the method previously described by Jędrejko et al . (2022) was used. Briefly, the organic compounds in samples were determined using RP‐HPLC‐UV and RP‐HPLC‐DAD on Merck Hitachi HPLC Systems, employing RP‐18 columns.…”