"At first, Cordyceps grew naturally in Mount Baekdu in China and was used as a medicine. Now, we cultivate them in bottles without reducing its nutrients or the benefits contained in it," a Cordyceps sales person, Frisca Sucianto, said here on Saturday.
She explained that Cordyceps comes from a kind of moth that lays its eggs on leaves or beneath the soil. The hatched larvae move into the soil and become infected by spores and grow Cordyceps fungus, which produces spores that go on to infect other larvae.
Frisca said Cordyceps takes one year to grow in nature, and hence Mucho Cordyceps company must cultivate the fungus, which consists of 400 species, in a bottle with rice and water added as the media to grow Cordyceps spores.
"With this process, Cordyceps grows within three months," she explained, adding that a test shows that the DNA from Cordyceps grown in a bottle is the same as those that grow in nature.
According to Frisca, there are two species of Cordyceps that have been used as a medicines, namely Cordyceps militaris and Cordyceps sinensis.
The first species, she added, was only known among the emperors, while ordinary people used Cordyceps sinensis.
"We cultivate Cordyceps militaris in a bottle and package it as an herbal capsule to make it easy to consume," Frisca noted.
Numerous scientific studies published in international journals mention the efficacy of Cordyceps to strengthen the immune system, protects vital organs, as well as lower blood sugar and cholesterol and prevent the growth of cancer cells.
(T.KR-LWA/INE/B003)
Reporter: Libertina Widyamurti Ambari
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
