Cordyceps Militaris
Cordyceps militaris is an entomopathogenic fungus of the Cordycipitaceae family whose bright orange club shaped fruiting bodies are cultivated commercially and traded as a dried food and supplement material. It is a different organism from Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the wild caterpillar fungus of the Tibetan plateau, and the two should not be conflated, although the trade names overlap constantly.
The commercial significance of the species is that it can be cultivated. It fruits readily on a sterilised grain or rice substrate, or on silkworm pupae, under controlled light and humidity, which makes it available in tonnage quantities at a fraction of the price of the wild species. It also produces cordycepin, the nucleoside analogue 3' deoxyadenosine, at levels far higher than Ophiocordyceps sinensis, and cordycepin together with adenosine forms the analytical basis on which the material is sold.
Dried fruiting bodies are orange to deep orange, slender, one to eight centimetres long, brittle when dry, with a faint mushroom odour and a mildly savoury, slightly sweet taste. The active nucleosides and the cell wall polysaccharides are water soluble and are released by simmering, which is how the material is used traditionally, and the orange carotenoid pigment fades on prolonged exposure to light, so the dried product is packed in opaque sealed containers.
We source bulk Cordyceps Militaris from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Jiangsu. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Orange to deep orange club shaped dried fruiting bodies |
| Source | Cultivated Cordyceps militaris fruiting body |
| Odour and Taste | Faint mushroom odour, mildly savoury and slightly sweet |
| Identification | Morphology and HPLC profile conforming to reference |
| Cordycepin | ≥ 0.30% (HPLC) |
| Adenosine | ≥ 0.10% (HPLC) |
| Crude Protein | ≥ 20.0% |
| Moisture | ≤ 10.0% |
| Total Ash | ≤ 8.0% |
| Broken Pieces | ≤ 10.0% |
| Residual Substrate | ≤ 1.0% |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Cadmium | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 500 cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Dried fruiting body is graded by appearance and by cultivation substrate. Material grown on a rice or grain substrate is the volume item and is separated by fruiting body length, colour intensity and the proportion of broken pieces. Material grown on silkworm pupae commands a premium in the Chinese market because it more closely resembles the wild species in form. Whole dried fruiting bodies, cut pieces and milled powder are traded as separate presentations.
Where the material is bought as a functional ingredient rather than as a food, the specification carries a cordycepin figure by HPLC, typically from 0.1 to 1 percent on the dried fruiting body, together with adenosine. Mycelium grown in liquid fermentation is a distinct and cheaper product sold under the same species name, and buyers separate the two explicitly, since a fruiting body specification cannot be met by mycelial biomass. Organic certified material is available from certified substrate supply, and heavy metal testing is standard because the fungus takes up metals from its substrate.
Applications
- Herbal infusions and decoctions, where the dried fruiting bodies are simmered in water or added to a vacuum flask
- Slow cooked soups and broths, particularly poultry and pork stocks in Chinese home cooking
- Congee and rice porridge preparations, added at the start of the cook
- Medicinal wines and spirit infusions, a traditional presentation in the producing regions
- Gift and retail packs of whole dried fruiting bodies, where visual grading is the main quality signal
- Feedstock for water and hydroalcoholic extraction into standardised powders
- Mushroom blend powders and functional coffee style drinks, using milled fruiting body
- Capsule and tablet supplements, dosed as milled fruiting body powder where a whole food format is preferred
- Poultry and aquaculture feed additives, applied as a fungal nucleoside and polysaccharide source
Brands Using Cordyceps Militaris
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Cordyceps Militaris on the ingredient label.
- Om Mushroom SuperfoodOm Cordyceps Mushroom Capsules ↗Capsules delivering 2,000 mg of whole organic Cordyceps mushroom powder, with the product page naming Cordyceps militaris as the species used.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Real MushroomsOrganic Cordyceps Mushroom Powder (Cordyceps-M) ↗Powder made from 100 percent organic Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies, named on the product page as the only mushroom material used.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Gaia HerbsCordyceps Mushroom Capsules ↗Vegan capsules whose ingredient listing reads organic Cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris) fruiting body, with no mycelium or grain.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Cordyceps Militaris
Top Cordyceps Militaris manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, Cordyceps militaris and preparations made from it are marketed as dietary ingredients under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, with finished products manufactured under 21 CFR Part 111. Species and part identity are the practical control points, since material labelled cordyceps may be fruiting body, mycelium on grain, or a different species entirely, and the Food and Drug Administration has treated inaccurate identity statements as misbranding. Cordycepin itself is not an approved food additive and preparations concentrated in it are positioned as dietary ingredients rather than as additives.
In the European Union Cordyceps militaris is not an authorised food additive, so no E number applies, and it has no established history of significant consumption within the Union before the novel food cut off date, which places it within the scope of the novel food regulation for food and food supplement use. Health claims for the species are unauthorised. Contaminant limits for lead, cadmium and mercury in food supplements apply, and buyers commonly require an arsenic screen where the substrate was rice. Codex has no commodity standard for the species and JECFA has issued no additive specification for it.
Manufacturing Process
Cultivation begins with a pure strain maintained on agar and propagated into a liquid seed culture. The seed is inoculated onto a sterilised substrate, usually polished rice with added water and a nitrogen source in bottles or bags, or onto sterilised silkworm pupae. The inoculated containers are incubated in the dark until the substrate is colonised by white mycelium, then moved to a lit fruiting room where controlled light, temperature, humidity and ventilation induce the orange fruiting bodies, which develop over three to six weeks.
Mature fruiting bodies are harvested by hand, separated from the residual substrate, and dried in warm air or freeze dried, freeze drying giving a brighter colour and a more open texture at higher cost. Dried material is graded by length and colour, sorted to remove broken and discoloured pieces, passed through a metal detector and either packed whole or milled and sifted to a defined particle size. Packing is into aluminium foil laminate bags, often nitrogen flushed, inside fibreboard cartons, and the product is held cool and dark to protect the pigment.
