Pharmacological Activities of the Mycelial Extract of Cultured Cordyceps sinensis

For defining the possibilities of the commercial mass liquid culture of Cordyceps sinensis, the pharmacological activities of mycelia were analyzed. The mycelium of C. sinensis consists of carbohydrate (5.1%) and fat (1.3%), and contains a low content of protein (0.7%) and ash (0.5%), and 92.4% moisture. The molecular sugar ratio of carbohydrate was composed mainly of glucose, mannose (1.0 : 0.9), in addition a small amount of galactose and arabinose (0.2 : 0.1). The cellular materials of mycelia were fractionated into ethylacetate (EA), MeOH (M) and hot-water extract fraction (HW). HW fraction showed the most potent intestinal immune system modulating activity, anti-coagulant activity, and anti-complementary activity, and M fraction had the inhibition activity of radical generation as effective as genistine. These results reveal that the mycelium of liquid cultured C. sinensis showed pharmacological activities and could be used for commercial purpose.