Determination and analysis of cordycepin and adenosine in the products of Cordyceps spp.

Abstract

Cordyceps sinensisis, a kind of precious natural crude drugs and edible mushrooms, were used as tonic food in East Asia area and enjoyed an extensive praise for its medicinal functions. Cordyceps militaris, as a substitute for C. sinensis, is a widely distributed species, which can be cultivated in various medium. In this study, the contents of major bioactive components, cordycepin and adenosine in fruiting bodies and mycelia from the nature C. sinensis and artificial cultural C. militaris were investigated using improved HPLC method. The results showed the mean contents of cordycepin and adenosine in the fruiting bodies of C. militaris were 2.654 ± 0.02 and 2.45 ± 0.03 mg/g, those in C. sinensis were 0.9801 ± 0.01 and 1.643 ± 0.03 mg/g, while those in the mycelium of C. militaris were 0.9040 ± 0.02 and 1.592 ± 0.03 mg/g, respectively. The concentration of cordycepin and adenosine in the fruiting bodies of C. militaris were higher than that in natural C. sinensis, while the fermented mycelium of C. militaris were similar with natural C. sinensis.