A simple and effective method to discern the true commercial Chinese cordyceps from counterfeits

The Chinese cordyceps, a complex of the fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis and its species-specific host insects, is also called “DongChongXiaCao” in Chinese. Habitat degradation in recent decades and excessive harvesting by humans has intensified its scarcity and increased the prices of natural populations. Some counterfeits are traded as natural Chinese cordyceps for profit, causing confusion in the marketplace. To promote the safe use of Chinese cordyceps and related products, a duplex PCR method for specifically identifying raw Chinese cordyceps and its primary products was successfully established. Chinese cordyceps could be precisely identified by detecting an internal transcribed spacer amplicon from O. sinensis and a cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 amplicon from the host species, at a limit of detection as low as 32 pg. Eleven commercial samples were purchased and successfully tested to further verify that the developed duplex PCR method could be reliably used to identify Chinese cordyceps. It provides a new simple way to discern true commercial Chinese cordyceps from counterfeits in the marketplace. This is an important step toward achieving an authentication method for this Chinese medicine. The methodology and the developmental strategy can be used to authenticate other traditional Chinese medicinal materials.