Cordyceps Cs-4

Science

Cordyceps is unique among medicinal mushrooms.  Like all mushrooms defined as “medicinal”, the indigestible cell walls of Cordyceps mushrooms and mycelium contain immuno-modulating beta glucans that support immune health.  However, when properly extracted, Cordyceps supplements also provide adenosine, nucleosides and other active compounds, providing significant health benefits beyond immune support.*

It is these other active compounds that are responsible for the many different health benefits reported in the literature; help with adrenal fatigue, balancing the HPA axis, supporting kidney and respiratory health, and increasing energy and stamina.*

WILD FRUIT BODIES vs. CULTIVATED MYCELIUM

Hot water extracts of wild Cordyceps fruit bodies and hot water extracts of the cultivated Cordyceps Cs-4 mycelium have demonstrated equal levels of immune activity, with neither one considered to be superior to the other for immune support purposes.*

This equality of effect for immune support is due to the fact that the levels of the immuno-modulating beta glucans are fairly consistent from one strain to another within the Cordyceps sinensis species.*

However, while the levels of beta glucans are fairly consistent strain to strain, the levels of the other active compounds, the adenosine and the other secondary metabolites, can vary dramatically from one strain to another, from one wild fruit body to the next.

It is these other active compounds, the secondary metabolites, that are responsible for the other non-immune related health benefits attributed to Cordyceps extracts in the herbal and scientific references.*

The wild harvested Cordyceps fruit bodies are also very expensive, too expensive to be used as a raw material in a 20:1 extract.  Picking the mushroom in the wild can also be very damaging to the environment.

This is why researchers set out to find a strain of Cordyceps mycelium that could be grown using submerged/liquid cultivation methods, and a strain that would produce effective levels of all the active compounds found in the wild Cordyceps fruit bodies, including the secondary metabolites.

This turned out to be far more difficult than first imagined.  It took years, and the cultivation and chemical analysis of 100’s of different strains of Cordyceps sinensis before researchers found the Cs-4 strain.

To date, Cordyceps Cs-4 is the only strain of Cordyceps mycelium that has been independently confirmed to produce all of the active compounds found in the wild harvested fruit bodies used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  This includes the secondary metabolites essential to providing the full range of health benefits attributed to Cordyceps extracts in the herbal and scientific literature.*

This explains why the vast majority of the modern clinical research has been conducted with hot-water or hot-water/ethanol extracts of the Cs-4 strain of Cordyceps mycelium produced through liquid/submerged culture.

Our Cordyceps supplement is a hot-water/ethanol extract of the mycelium of the Cs-4 strain of Cordyceps (mycelium produced through liquid culture, not grown on rice).  This guarantees that the MushroomScience Cordyceps supplement is capable of delivering the many diverse health benefits Cordyceps is rightly famous for. At 24% polysaccharide content MushroomScience offers the most potent Cordyceps extract in North America.

HOW IS THE CORDYCEPS MYCELIUM CULTIVATED?

Mycelium is the part of the mushroom organism you cannot see.  It is a network of thread like strands that grow beneath the soil, inside of trees, or in the case of Cordyceps, inside caterpillars.  Mycelium is referred to as the “vegetative” stage of the organism while the mushroom is referred to as the “fruiting” stage.

In the wild, caterpillars crawl through their natural habitat, the grass that grows in the high elevation mountain meadows of the Himalayas.  In this grass they rub up against spores released by previous generations of Cordyceps fruit body’s (spores are analogous to seeds).

The spore then starts the growth of mycelium, inside the caterpillar, slowly colonizing the caterpillars’ body and eventually killing it.  The mycelium then consumes the caterpillar, using this food energy to produce a long slender fruit body that resembles a blade of grass.  This fruit body then releases more spores and the process starts over.  This process is described in the translation of the Chinese name, “winter worm summer grass”.

The mycelium used as the raw material for the Cordyceps Cs-4 extracts studied in the published research was all produced through a process called liquid culture or submerged culture.

An enclosed stainless steel tank, also known as a bio-reactor, is half filled with water and added nutrients, usually a mixture of various grains.  This mixture is cooked for a period of time, usually 3-4 hours, until a nutritious broth is created.

This medium is then sterilized and allowed to cool, at which point a piece of living Cordyceps Cs-4 mycelium is added to the tank.  As long as the medium is sterile, the broth is stirred or agitated, and the CO 2 is vented out, the mycelium grows through the liquid broth.

It takes 48-72 hours for the mycelium to completely grow through and consume all the nutrients in the tank, at which point the mycelium is filtered out, dried and then extracted with hot water, like any other dried and ground up mushroom powder.

When mycelium is grown in liquid there is no solid medium the mycelium needs to be separated from prior to hot water extraction, so it is the perfect process for growing mycelium for the manufacturing of dietary supplements.

MYCELIUM ON RICE?

Growing mycelium on a solid medium such as rice or oats is called “solid state fermentation”, a process that when completed, does produce mycelium, but still leaves half of the rice or oats undigested.  This is typically done inside of heat resistant plastic bags so the rice or oats can be sterilized prior to inoculation.

In the solid state fermentation process it is not possible to separate the Cordyceps mycelium from the remaining undigested grain.  This in turn makes it impossible to use mycelium grown on grain as a raw material for hot water extraction, and hot water or hot water/alcohol extracts are the only supplemental form of Cordyceps capable of delivering the health benefits people are seeking when using a Cordyceps supplement.  On this the scientific community agrees.

If mycelium grown on grain is introduced to hot water in an extraction process, the remaining undigested grain turns into a gluey sticky mass, which in turn makes any of the remaining steps in the hot water manufacturing process impossible.

This is why it is impossible to make an effective Cordyceps supplement from mycelium grown on grain or oats in a solid state fermentation process (SSF).

Tradition

Cordyceps is one of the most valued medicinal mushrooms in all of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In TCM Cordyceps is described as sweet and acrid in taste and warm in nature, acting through the lung and kidney channels. Cordyceps invigorates the kidneys and protects the lungs. This means something very different in TCM than it does in the West. In TCM they are not talking about the physical organs themselves when they use the terms “kidneys” and “lungs”, they are talking about the energy channels that flow through them, the energy meridians. Cordyceps is also used in cases of fatigue and night sweats.*

Because the TCM texts describe Cordyceps extracts as tonifying both the yin and yang it is considered to be a very safe substance that can be taken for long periods of time. For most conditions Cordyceps is prepared as a decoction (hot-water-extract or tea), or a hot water/alcohol extract, although when used as a tonic in TCM the fruit bodies are sometimes cooked into a chicken broth.*