Cordyceps sinensis is a valuable Chinese herbal medicine, and there are many kinds of counterfeit varieties, among which Cordyceps sinensis is one of the more common counterfeit products. The shape of Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps sinensis are very similar, and their growth process is the same, but the fungi invading the larvae are different. The ergot invades Cordyceps sinensis, while the Corynebacterium sinensis invades Cordyceps sinensis. Although the appearance is similar and the nature is completely different, long-term use of counterfeit Cordyceps sinensis is easy to cause dizziness, vomiting, palpitations and other side effects. In order to facilitate the identification, the characteristics and physical and chemical identification of the two are introduced as follows:

　

Trait characteristics

Cordyceps sinensis is 3 ~ 5 cm long and 0.3 ~ 0.8 cm in diameter. The surface is dark yellow to yellowish brown, with 20 ~ 30 rings. The rings near the head are thin and the head is dark red. There are 8 pairs of feet, and the middle 4 pairs are more obvious. It is brittle and easy to break, with a slightly flat section, light yellow and dark brown "V" in the middle. The pedestal is slender and cylindrical, with a length of 4 ~ 7 cm and a diameter of about 0.3 cm. The surface is dark brown to brown, with fine longitudinal wrinkles, a thick base, a thin middle part and a slightly enlarged upper part. Tough, yellow-white section. The smell is slightly fishy and the taste is slightly bitter.

Cordyceps asiatica is 3 ~ 5 cm long and 0.3 ~ 0.6 cm in diameter, with yellow-brown to brown surface, a few dark brown, 20 ~ 30 pairs of ring lines, thin ring lines near the head and sparse dark brown spots scattered on the back; The head is reddish brown and shiny, with 8 ~1l pairs of feet, and 4 pairs in the middle are more obvious; Tough, not easy to break, slightly flat section, yellowish white, no V-shaped structure. The pedestal is slender, cylindrical, and most of them are not bifurcated, and there are often bract-like protrusions (1~ several) in the handle, thus forming several nodal structures; Some sub-seats have 2 ~ 4 bifurcations at the handle; The submount is 2 ~ 7cm long, with a diameter of1.5 ~ 3.0mm. Its surface is dark brown, the lower part is sometimes purplish brown, some bases are yellowish brown, with fine wrinkles, and the upper part is slightly enlarged. It is flexible, dark brown in the outer section, white in the middle, fishy in smell and slightly bitter in taste.

　

Physical and chemical identification

Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps sinensis were extracted with acidic ethanol (1:7) respectively, and then one milliliter of the solution was observed under fluorescent lamp (365 nm). The genuine solution showed light blue fluorescence, while the counterfeit solution showed yellow-green fluorescence. Take one milliliter of each water extract (1:10) and observe it under fluorescence (365 nm). The genuine solution shows yellow-blue fluorescence, while the counterfeit solution shows light yellow-green.