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Journal ArticleDOI

Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Production and Sustainability on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas

01 Jan 2009-Asian Medicine (Brill)-Vol. 5, Iss: 2, pp 291-316
TL;DR: This paper analyses available production data and estimates the total annual production of caterpillar fungus in the range of 85 to 185 tons for all production areas, most promising from a socio-economic, administrative and also mycological perspective is the establishment of an end date of the collection season, which might allow for sufficient spore dispersal to guarantee sustainability.
Abstract: Caterpillar fungus ( Ophiocordyceps = Cordyceps sinensis ) is an entomophagous fungus endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It has become the most important source of cash income in wide areas of the Tibetan Plateau, where it is known as yartsa gunbu , ‘summer grass winter worm’. The market is driven by Chinese consumers, who refer to it as dongchong xiacao . The value of this myco-medicinal has increased by 900% between 1997 and 2008, creating a globally-unique rural fungal economy. However, actual annual production data is still not available for many areas of the Tibetan Plateau in China as well as the Himalayan production areas of India, Nepal and Bhutan. This paper analyses available production data and estimates the total annual production in the range of 85 to 185 tons for all production areas. Current availability of multi-annual production figures is limited and allows only for provisional estimates regarding the sustainability of current harvesting quantities. Centuries of collection indicate that caterpillar fungus is a resilient resource. Still, unprecedented collection intensity, climate change and the recent economic dependence of local economies on caterpillar fungus calls for sustainable resource management. Absence of long-term field studies indicating best management practices—at best in their infancy in some production areas—necessitate a degree of improvisation in designing resource management strategies. The development of easily implementable approaches that can rely on community support will be crucial for successful management. Most promising from a socio-economic, administrative and also mycological perspective is the establishment of an end date of the collection season, which might allow for sufficient spore dispersal to guarantee sustainability.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides a comprehensive summary of the most recent developments in various aspects (i.e., production, extraction, structure, and bioactivity) of the intracellular and exopolysaccharides from mycelial fermentation of C. sinensis fungi.

167 citations


Cites background from "Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..."

  • ...Over the last 10 years, the demand as well as the price for C. sinensis has increased dramatically in China, Japan, Korea and India (Au et al., 2012; Jeffrey, 2012; Winkler, 2009)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Data suggest that Cordyceps from Bhutan is a rational alternative of natural C. sinensis, which is beneficial for the improvement of their performance in health and medicinal food areas.
Abstract: Natural Cordyceps collected in Bhutan has been widely used as natural Cordyceps sinensis, an official species of Cordyceps used as Chinese medicines, around the world in recent years. However, whether Cordyceps from Bhutan could be really used as natural C. sinensis remains unknown. Therefore, DNA sequence, bioactive components including nucleosides and polysaccharides in twelve batches of Cordyceps from Bhutan were firstly investigated, and compared with natural C. sinensis. Results showed that the fungus of Cordyceps from Bhutan was C. sinensis and the host insect belonged to Hepialidae sp. In addition, nucleosides and their bases such as guanine, guanosine, hypoxanthine, uridine, inosine, thymidine, adenine, and adenosine, as well as compositional monosaccharides, partial acid or enzymatic hydrolysates, molecular weights and contents of polysaccharides in Cordyceps from Bhutan were all similar to those of natural C. sinensis. All data suggest that Cordyceps from Bhutan is a rational alternative of natural C. sinensis, which is beneficial for the improvement of their performance in health and medicinal food areas.

108 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
02 Sep 2014-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: The model showed that across all future climate change trajectories over three different time periods, the area of predicted suitable habitat of Chinese caterpillar fungus would expand, with 0.11–4.87% expansion over current suitable habitat.
Abstract: Climate change has already impacted ecosystems and species and substantial impacts of climate change in the future are expected. Species distribution modeling is widely used to map the current potential distribution of species as well as to model the impact of future climate change on distribution of species. Mapping current distribution is useful for conservation planning and understanding the change in distribution impacted by climate change is important for mitigation of future biodiversity losses. However, the current distribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus, a flagship species of the Himalaya with very high economic value, is unknown. Nor do we know the potential changes in suitable habitat of Chinese caterpillar fungus caused by future climate change. We used MaxEnt modeling to predict current distribution and changes in the future distributions of Chinese caterpillar fungus in three future climate change trajectories based on representative concentration pathways (RCPs: RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 6.0) in three different time periods (2030, 2050, and 2070) using species occurrence points, bioclimatic variables, and altitude. About 6.02% (8,989 km2) area of the Nepal Himalaya is suitable for Chinese caterpillar fungus habitat. Our model showed that across all future climate change trajectories over three different time periods, the area of predicted suitable habitat of Chinese caterpillar fungus would expand, with 0.11–4.87% expansion over current suitable habitat. Depending upon the representative concentration pathways, we observed both increase and decrease in average elevation of the suitable habitat range of the species.

107 citations


Cites background from "Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..."

  • ...It a parasitic complex formed by a parasitic relationship between the fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis and the caterpillar of ‘ghost’ moth species belonging to the genus Thitarodes [27]....

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  • ...The decline has been attributed, in part, to climate change [27,29,33]....

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  • ...One of the major current drivers of decline of Chinese caterpillar fungus is extensive harvesting [27,29]....

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  • ...It has been unofficially reported that the altitudinal limit of Chinese caterpillar fungus seems to have shifted upwards by 200– 500 m in China due to past climate change [27,33], which may have also caused local extinction of the fungus from Mount Emai in the Chinese province of Sichuan, located on the edge of the Tibetan plateau [52–53]....

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  • ...Although it has various therapeutic usages, the major trade of Chinese caterpillar fungus, with the popular name ‘‘Himalayan Viagra’’, is due to its presumed effects as an aphrodisiac and powerful tonic [27]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on the impact of trade on natural populations of the world's most expensive biological resource, a unique caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis).

95 citations


Cites background or result from "Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..."

  • ...Global trade rapidly expanded after the 1993 World Athletic Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, when Chinese athletes—reportedly training on dietary supplements of Othiocordyceps and turtle blood—set multiple records in distance running (Winkler, 2010b)....

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  • ...G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora with the larval stage of several species of moth (known as ‘ghost moth’) belonging to the genus Thitarodes (Winkler, 2010a)....

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  • ...From 1997 to 2008, the market price climbed by 900% in Tibet (Winkler, 2010a), and from 2001 to 2011 by 2300% in Nepal....

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  • ...China is the largest producer (80–175 tons), followed by Nepal (1.0–3.2 tons), India (1.7–2.8 tons) and Bhutan (0.5–1.5 tons) (Winkler, 2010a)....

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  • ...The fungus then enters a mycelial growth phase and finally forms one or more stromata that emerge as. Biol. from the head of the buried caterpillar (Winkler, 2010a)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A panoramic view of potential health benefits of various classes of bio-active fractions along with the need for sustainable management of CS for human wellness is given.

89 citations


Cites background from "Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..."

  • ...The annual production in the Tibetan Plateau was estimated in 2009 at 80–175 tonnes and 1 kg of caterpillars traded for US$ 3000 (lowest quality) to over US$ 18,000 (best quality, largest larvae) in 2008 (Winkler, 2009)....

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References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The extent and magnitude of rangeland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau (QTP) remains largely unknown because monitoring programs have been subjective and poorly documented as mentioned in this paper.

855 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Most diagnostic characters used in current classifications of Cordyceps were not supported as being phylogenetically informative; the characters that were most consistent with the phylogeny were texture, pigmentation and morphology of stromata.

828 citations


"Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...In rural areas and in small towns, which are settled by 93% of the TAR population, per capita income from caterpillar fungus collection in 2004 figured at ¥463 based 14 See Sung et al. 2007....

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  • ...A special work on Yartsa Gunbu.3 In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), so far the first known mention is by 汪昂 (Wang Ang) in 1694 in 本草備要 (Ben Cao Bei Yao), the Complete 1 Sung et al. 2007....

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  • ...4 Winkler 2008a. 5 For the latter see Wong et al. 2010. 6 For detailed references see Canney (2006), Holliday & Cleaver (2004), and Zhu, Halpern & Jones (1998); for a timely critical review of a range of medicinal studies see Paterson (2008)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review presents Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc.
Abstract: This review presents Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc., a fungus highly valued in China as a tonic food and herbal medicine. The extant records show the continued use of C. sinensis is now centuries old. The major chemical, pharmacological, and toxicological studies on C. sinensis and the various derived, cultured, fermented mycelial products currently in use are reviewed from the English and Chinese literature. Preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies and clinical blinded or open-label trials in to date over 2000 patients are reviewed. These studies show the main activities of the fungus in oxygen-free radical scavenging, antisenescence, endocrine, hypolipidemic, antiatherosclerotic, and sexual function-restorative activities. The safety of the fungus, its effects on the nervous system, glucose metabolism, the respiratory, hepatic, cardiovascular, and immune systems, immunologic disease, inflammatory conditions, cancer, and diseases of the kidney will be reviewed in the second part of this articl...

475 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) are growing in popularity, but are they effective?

403 citations


"Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...6 For detailed references see Canney (2006), Holliday & Cleaver (2004), and Zhu, Halpern & Jones (1998); for a timely critical review of a range of medicinal studies see Paterson (2008). Fig....

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  • ...…see Canney (2006), Holliday & Cleaver (2004), and Zhu, Halpern & Jones (1998); for a timely critical review of a range of medicinal studies see Paterson (2008). highest value is attributed to a yartsa gunbu whose stroma is a bit shorter than the larva or at least not much longer, since in…...

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  • ...20 Research on the Caterpillar fungus phenomenon and its impact on Himalayan communities were published by Sharma (2004), Shiva (2006), Negi et al....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is confirmed that cordycepin reduces the length of poly(A) tails, with some mRNAs being much more sensitive than others, and it is concluded that many of the reported biological effects of cordyCEpin are likely to be due to its effects on mTOR and AMPK signaling.

140 citations


"Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...The 4 Winkler 2008a. 5 For the latter see Wong et al. 2010....

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