As a precious Chinese medicinal material, cordyceps is often mixed with genuine and fake ones in the market. To distinguish its authenticity, it is necessary to make a comprehensive judgment from many aspects such as morphological characteristics, texture, feel, and smell, and combine traditional experience with modern knowledge to accurately identify the quality.
The genuine cordyceps is naturally connected by the "insect body" and the "grass body" (sperm), and the whole is dark yellow to yellow-brown. The insect body is like a silkworm, 3-5 cm long, 0.3-0.8 cm in diameter, with 20-30 rings on the surface, and the rings near the head are thinner; the head is reddish brown, with 8 pairs of legs, including 3 pairs of thoracic legs and 5 pairs of abdominal legs, and the abdominal legs near the tail are more obvious. The grass body grows from the top of the insect head, is cylindrical, 4-11 cm long, dark brown to tan on the surface, with fine longitudinal wrinkles, and slightly swollen at the top. Fake Cordyceps often artificially glues the insect body and the grass body, with rough and abrupt joints, or the proportion of the insect body and the grass body is unbalanced, such as the grass body is too long, the insect body is too small, or the number of insect legs is inconsistent, and the ring pattern is unclear.
The authentic insect body is brittle, easy to break, flat in cross section, full or slightly hollow inside, white to yellowish white, and dark yellow around. Gently pinch the insect body with your hands, it is elastic but not soft, and the grass body is flexible and not easy to break. Fake products are often pressed with starch, gypsum, etc., the insect body is stiff or too soft, and obvious granular structure or dyeing traces of pigments can be seen on the cross section; some fake Cordyceps are impersonated with insect corpses, the inside of the insect body is hollow or filled with foreign objects, and impurities such as mud, sawdust, etc. can be seen after breaking, and even heavy metals are injected to increase the weight, and the hand feels abnormally heavy.
Authentic cordyceps have a natural mushroom aroma mixed with a slight earthy smell. The smell is mild and not pungent, and there is no discomfort after smelling it for a long time. This is a unique smell formed by the interaction with soil and mycelium during its growth. Fake Cordyceps often emits a pungent smell of medicine, plastic or artificial fragrance due to the use of chemical dyes, adhesives or the addition of flavors. Some inferior counterfeits even have a peculiar smell of corruption and deterioration. If you smell a distinct odor, you need to be alert to artificial counterfeiting.
The head of the genuine insect body is reddish brown, relatively swollen, with a smooth surface and no variegated spots; among the 8 pairs of legs, the 3 pairs of thoracic legs near the head are small, the middle 4 pairs of abdominal legs (especially the 4th pair) are obviously prominent, shaped like nipples, and the tail 1 pair of legs is smaller. The ring pattern is fine and clear, and the ring pattern is denser within 2-3 cm near the head. Counterfeits often reveal flaws here: the color of the head is too dark or too light, which is out of touch with the overall color of the insect body; the number of legs is wrong, the shape is blurred, and even the pigment is used to dot and dye to make it look full; the ring pattern is rough and uneven, or it is forged by printing, smearing, etc., and artificial traces can be seen when observed with a magnifying glass.
For situations that are difficult to judge with the naked eye, the soaking method can be used to assist in identification. Soak the Cordyceps in clean water for 10-20 minutes. The worm body and the grass body of the genuine product are not separated, and the water quality is clear and there is no obvious discoloration; the fake product may have the worm body and the grass body fall off, the water quality becomes turbid, or the dye dissolves, resulting in abnormal water color (such as yellow, brown, etc.). If conditions permit, the mycelium structure can be observed with the help of a magnifying glass or microscope: the inside of the authentic worm body can be seen to have tightly arranged mycelium, which is white and fibrous, and no other tissue remains; the inside of the fake product is mostly starch granules, plant fibers or artificial synthetics, and the structure is messy and irregular.
Common fake Cordyceps on the market include "model Cordyceps" (pressed with starch, resin, etc.), "spliced Cordyceps" (bonded with different worm bodies and grass bodies), "dyed Cordyceps" (dyed with low-priced varieties such as Cordyceps militaris and Cordyceps militaris), "weighted Cordyceps" (inserting lead wire, glue or alum into the worm body), etc. For example, Cordyceps subspinipes (also known as "Guni Cordyceps") looks similar to cordyceps, but the insect body is shorter and thicker, the grass body is often branched, and the smell is sour; Cordyceps militaris (Cordyceps militaris) has a thicker grass body, orange-yellow in color, and the insect body is mostly the corpse of silkworm pupae, without gastropod characteristics. Consumers need to be wary of the temptation of low prices and avoid buying such substitutes or counterfeits for the sake of cheapness.
Since the identification of cordyceps requires a certain degree of professionalism, ordinary consumers can give priority to regular pharmacies and brand merchants with good reputations, and require merchants to provide qualification documents such as certificates of origin and test reports. If there are doubts about the purchased cordyceps, it can be sent to the local drug testing institute or a third-party testing agency for scientific verification through microscopic identification, DNA barcode analysis and other technical means. Modern testing can accurately identify the content of active ingredients (such as adenosine, cordycepic acid, etc.) in cordyceps, distinguish between wild genuine products and artificial imitations, and provide a reliable basis for authenticity judgment.
It takes patience and meticulousness to distinguish the authenticity of cordyceps. It is necessary to remember the core characteristics of the genuine product, such as shape, texture, and smell, and also to understand the flaws of common counterfeiting methods. Through multi-dimensional observation, combined with auxiliary inspection methods, and relying on professional channels and technical support, we can discern the real thing in the mixed market and avoid economic losses or health risks caused by mistaken purchases of counterfeit products. In the consumption process, it is also an important prerequisite to avoid falling into the trap of counterfeiting to treat the excessive publicity of "magical effects" rationally and establish a scientific concept of health preservation.
