What are the methods to distinguish the authenticity of Cordyceps sinensis?

Cordyceps sinensis is a precious medicinal material in my country. Because of its many medicinal values ​​but rare production, it has always been regarded as a precious thing by people. Although there are medicinal materials sold on the market, many friends have no way to confirm the authenticity. So today, the editor will teach you some identification methods. Let’s take a look!

Look at the appearance

The insect head and grass head of real Cordyceps grow together naturally, looking extremely natural, with no signs of adhesion like in fake Cordyceps. The insect body has three rings arranged in groups, and the rings gradually thicken from head to bottom. The insect legs are fixed in eight pairs. Some Cordyceps on the market have different numbers and sizes of legs, so be careful when purchasing. If conditions permit, you can break open the Cordyceps to see if the color of the cross section is white, whether there are obvious grains, and whether there is a small black core in the center of the cross section that looks like the English letter V. These are all unique features of the appearance of true Cordyceps.

Smell

When we open the packaged Cordyceps, it will emit a strong mushroom aroma similar to that of shiitake mushrooms. If you pick up a single Cordyceps, you can also smell a faint fishy aroma. The smell of fake Cordyceps varies. Some of them have no special smell no matter how close we smell them. Some also have the smell of inferior flavors or fishy smell.

Try it

Cordyceps is a precious Chinese herbal medicine. Grabbing a handful and holding it in your hand it feels like hay and is almost weightless. There will be no staining if you rub the insect body and fruiting body back and forth in the palm of your hand. When you put down the Cordyceps, your hands will be stained with some mud and sawdust, but there will be no powder of unknown ingredients. Fake Cordyceps often reveals flaws in these aspects.

Taste

Cordyceps is as crispy as green beans when you put it in your mouth, and the more you chew it, the more fragrant it becomes. Its aroma is similar to the sweetness of shiitake mushrooms. When you put fake Cordyceps in your mouth and chew it, you will feel the hard, crushing and grinding feeling of chewing licorice. After being moistened with saliva, not only does it lose the fragrance of mushrooms, but it also feels like your mouth is full of earthy taste.

Through the above sharing, you have a comprehensive understanding of the identification method of Cordyceps sinensis. If you need to buy it in your daily life, you should refer to the editor’s identification method so that you can really buy genuine and good medicinal materials!