Abstract:

A comparative study was carried out to determine cordycepin as one of the active ingredients in the fruit bodies
of Cordyceps militaris from different locations in China by HPLC. Using orthogonal array design, the optimal extraction
conditions were obtained as follows: 1:80, 5 h and 70 ℃ for solid-to-solvent ratio, extraction time and temperature,
respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the fruit bodies of Cordyceps militaris from Hubei province gave rise
to a yield of cordycepin of 0.604%. HPLC analysis showed that the fruit bodies of Cordyceps militaris cultured in our
laboratory contained 26.071 mg/g cordycepin, much higher than in those from Hubei and Yunnan provinces (6.041 and
7.606 mg/g, respectively). This difference was likely related to the strain and culture conditions. The strain and culture
method proposed in this study have the potential to provide the technical foundation for future studies on the influence of
selenium-supplemented culture medium on cordycepin content in Cordyceps militaris.

Key words: Cordyceps militaris, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), cordycepin