Vietnam can produce Cordyceps mushrooms

The Plant Protection Institute has just announced successful research on Cordyceps sinensis, a rare medicinal herb with the ability to enhance the body's anti-cancer ability.

Many people believe that Cordyceps is a special creature, in the form of an insect in the winter, and in the summer it turns into a grass, hence the name. However, according to scientists, Cordyceps is the general name for a group of fungi that parasitize and cause diseases on insects. In late autumn and early winter, they parasitize and cause diseases on insects. In the summer, when the temperature increases, the fungi produce fruit and grow into grass.

Cordyceps is cultured on silkworm pupae. Photo: Pham Nha.

In the world, wild cordyceps is very rare, mainly at an altitude of 3,200 meters in the Himalayas and Tibet. Each year, the yield is only 80 kg, so the price is very high, from 1.2 to 1.6 billion VND per kg. In the Hanoi market, cordyceps mushrooms are mainly cultivated.

The scientific team of the Plant Protection Institute imported mushroom varieties at a cost of more than 1,000 USD per sample for breeding and research.

Dr. Pham Van Nha, a member of the research team, said that Cordyceps contains many high nutritional values, in which the team focused on two main compounds: Cordycepin, which has the function of preventing fibroids and pre-cancer, and Adenosin, which is a drug for treating cardiovascular diseases.

After importing the seeds, the group focused on researching cultivation technology, including in-depth study of the nutritional environment; influencing factors such as ecology, weather, temperature, and light; thereby creating suitable laboratory conditions for mushroom growth.

Scientists cultivate Cordyceps using two methods: in an artificial environment, mass production, and directly on the silkworm host. "With silkworms as hosts, we can take the initiative in the supply source, and it is an insect that is food for humans, so it is not harmful," said Mr. Nha.

In the artificial environment, there are two main nutritional components: the nutrients to grow the Cordyceps and the supporting substrate, usually brown rice. Scientists have sterilized all external microorganisms, then implanted the Cordyceps inside with a development time of 60-75 days to obtain the finished product.

Cordyceps is cultured on biomass medium. Photo: Pham Nha

In the culture environment on the host, the Plant Protection Institute uses live silkworm pupae and places them in a reputable facility that does not use chemicals. After being implanted inside the pupae, the Cordyceps will develop into a closed system inside the host and produce a fruiting body system with tentacles extending outward with a height of 4-5 cm. The bright red color on the fruiting body is an indicator of Cordycepin, which has the function of preventing fibroids.

Dr. Nha said that while outside products are sold for one billion VND per kilogram, the Institute only sells the product on the host for 100-120 million VND/kg; and in the form of an artificial environment, it is equivalent to 7 million VND/kg.

Experts warn that currently on the market there are up to 70% fake cordyceps mushrooms and the tricks used are becoming more and more sophisticated, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake products.

According to VnExpress