Commonly known as the herb of immortality, half worm and half flower, so expensive that 500 yuan only buys half a jin

Warm reminder

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When it comes to cordyceps, the first thing that comes to many people's minds is Chinese caterpillar fungus, that is, the slender cordyceps produced on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. But many people do not know that it is only one of the 190 cordyceps species in our country. Some other cordyceps species use various insects as hosts, such as Isaria cicadae, which uses cicadas as hosts, and Cordyceps militaris, which uses insect pupae as hosts. They are less well known, but their value is not inferior to that of Chinese caterpillar fungus. Today let's talk about Cordyceps militaris, half worm and half flower, commonly known among the people as the "herb of immortality."

Cordyceps militaris was first discovered in Jilin in 1958. After expert identification, it was found to belong to the same cordyceps genus as Chinese caterpillar fungus, only with a different host. Cordyceps militaris mostly grows on the pupae of Lepidoptera insects. It originally grew in primeval forests, and later was successfully cultivated artificially. It mainly uses silkworm pupae as hosts, and both Bombyx mori pupae and Antheraea pernyi pupae can be used. The cultivated Cordyceps militaris is similar to wild Cordyceps militaris, with high content of active substances such as cordycepin, cordycepic acid and cordyceps polysaccharides, and has effects similar to those of Chinese caterpillar fungus, thus earning the nickname "herb of immortality."

The cultivation process of Cordyceps militaris is not easy. When the fungal strain is inoculated onto silkworm pupae, the survival rate is not very high, and it involves considerable technical difficulty, which also leads to its persistently high price. One jin of artificially cultivated Cordyceps militaris generally costs 1000 yuan per jin, and half a jin costs 500 yuan. The price can be said to be extremely expensive.

But no matter how expensive it is, it is still not as expensive as Chinese caterpillar fungus, because artificial cultivation of Chinese caterpillar fungus is too difficult. It is almost always wild, and is generally sold by the gram. 500 yuan may only buy 5 or 6 pieces! So people often use Cordyceps militaris as a substitute for Chinese caterpillar fungus, as the price is relatively much cheaper.

Cordyceps militaris is half worm and half flower. Its "flower" is actually golden yellow or orange-red spores. These spores can not only grow on silkworm pupae, but also on culture media of rice and wheat. The spores grown on rice and wheat are called "cordyceps flowers." Their color is very similar to that of Cordyceps militaris, but they have no worm body. Essentially, cordyceps flowers are similar to enoki mushrooms, button mushrooms and other fungi, just with a nicer name, and are generally used for cooking.

Cordyceps flowers

People in the know call cordyceps flowers "rice grass" or "wheat grass." Some unscrupulous merchants use cheap cordyceps flowers to pass them off as Cordyceps militaris for sale, deceiving those who do not know better. Be sure to pay attention.

Text/Hemu Report, images/Internet

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