New cultivation technology for Cordyceps militaris helps growers in Taiwan, China achieve mass production
After three years of research and development, the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture has introduced a new cultivation technique for Cordyceps militaris (northern cordyceps) that is expected to shorten cultivation time and increase yields. At present, most Cordyceps militaris on the market in Taiwan is imported dried product from mainland China, with wide variation in quality and a high price due to scarcity.
The Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute stated that it welcomes operators in Taiwan to use this cultivation technique to increase the total cultivation area and output of Cordyceps militaris in Taiwan, so that this health food can become more widely available and more affordable.
Cordyceps militaris Has High Nutritional Value, but Imported Product from Mainland China Varies Widely in Quality
Cordyceps militaris is also called pupa cordyceps. It belongs to the same genus as Cordyceps sinensis but is a different species; the two are like cousins in their family relationship. Because it is mainly distributed in northern mainland China, it is also called "northern Cordyceps sinensis." Cordyceps sinensis is a precious traditional Chinese medicinal material, but it is not easy to cultivate artificially on a large scale, whereas Cordyceps militaris, which can be cultivated artificially, has similar medicinal properties to Cordyceps sinensis and is therefore regarded as a substitute for it. Cordyceps militaris contains 9 vitamins, 18 amino acids, and 21 trace elements, and its content of the health-promoting compound cordycepin is also higher than that of Cordyceps sinensis. It can be used as a traditional Chinese medicine formula and also as a food ingredient.
Cordyceps militaris is a mushroom. The fungal strain of cultivated Cordyceps militaris can parasitize hosts such as rice and cicada pupae. At present, the level of cultivation technology in mainland China varies widely, and some operators use chemical agents to reduce pests and diseases and increase production yield. After some finished products arrive in Taiwan and are tested, it is found that no cordycepin content at all can be detected in the Cordyceps militaris.
Lu Yun-sheng, assistant researcher in the Plant Pathology Division of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture, said that at present there are about a dozen Cordyceps militaris cultivation operators in Taiwan, each with a cultivation area of nearly 100 ping, but the cultivation area of a single manufacturer in China is greater than the total of Taiwan's operators.
Using appropriate light sources to irradiate Cordyceps militaris makes it change color faster and increases the number of primordia formed (left: the effect of stimulating Cordyceps militaris with a special light source; right: the effect under fluorescent lamp irradiation). Provided by the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture
Reduce Pests and Diseases, Increase Yield
"The new cultivation technique for Cordyceps militaris was not something we developed sitting in the office," Lu Yun-sheng said. After visiting sites in person, they found that the industry's production bottleneck was severe pests and diseases in the early cultivation stage, which led to low yields and kept prices high.
"We took the operators' difficulties as the starting point for our research and development," Lu Yun-sheng explained. In the early cultivation stage, they improved the cultivation environment to reduce contamination by pests and diseases, then established strain vitality testing and preservation techniques to maintain the vitality of Cordyceps militaris strains; using rice as a host makes quantitative cultivation convenient; and they established a process for mass-producing strains to meet the needs of large-scale cultivation. In the later cultivation stage, different intensities of light irradiation were matched at different times, and temperature and humidity were controlled, shortening the cultivation time to 60 days and achieving a production yield of more than 95%.
"We hope that through the new cultivation technique, more operators in Taiwan will invest in mass production, bringing prices down and making it easier for more people to accept," said Tsai Chih-jung, chief secretary of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture. At present, one operator has already adopted this new cultivation technique, and interested operators are welcome to discuss technology transfer with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute at 04-2331-7533.