Cordyceps History

Cordyceps have a long history dating back over a thousand years. One thing that really makes Cordyceps as interesting as an herbal supplement is its rarity. Cordyceps can only grow in extreme conditions, at top elevations in Tibet as well as some small areas in China and India. This rarity led Cordyceps to become the most expensive herbal supplements in the world. At one time a pound of Cordyceps cost $35,000 for just one pound of its extract. With this incredible scarcity, and the obvious health benefits of Cordyceps, it’s no wonder scientists and researchers went to work trying to cultivate and reproduce the plant.

After years of unsuccessful cultivations, the first successful reproduction was achieved in 1972. These beginning Cordyceps cultures were held off the same year in the hold of the Chinese Sciences Academy. These original strains where found from Qinghai in the middle part of China. When this artificial cultivation first started, they had to find strains of the Cordyceps that could be commercially cultivated. The first 3 strains failed, but when they tested and researched the fourth stream they came across it was a gigantic success! They named this strain CS-4, and as it was growing quickly and plentiful, Cordyceps was closer and closer to being able to become available to the mainstream economy. This new CS-4 strain was chosen by the Chinese Science Academy for commercial large scale production.

This incredibly productive CS-4 strain of Cordyceps was determined to be the best and closest substitute for Cordyceps found in nature. By 1988 the strain had been approved as an herbal medicine in China under the product name Jin Shui Bao. Multiple trials and clinical studies were gone through before this approval could take place. Finally after over 40 years of research and study on Cordyceps the results of this research is incredible. In 2000 and 2001 American scientists bought 10 strands of Cordyceps for research and experimentation. With these new Cordycep strands, the scientists set out with tons of research work tasked in front of them. They began crossing strands with each other and seeing which were most effective. Now over 400 separate Cordyceps strands have been isolated since then.

Today Cordyceps are able to be mass produced as one of the most effective natural enhancement products in the world. Originally Cordyceps were one of the rarest raw elements on earth and remained this way for over a thousand years. With modern science research, mass production and cultivation of Cordyceps became possible. Usually these Cordyceps were so rare to have around a typical household that many could only dream of trying Cordyceps as an enhancement product for their daily lives. This miracle raw mushroom supplement that has the nickname of the caterpillar mushroom has now reached mainstream appeal and affordability. Today, thousands and thousands of kilograms every month are produced and manufactured to people around the world as a beneficial supplement. The history of this rare mushroom is incredible. What used to cost $35,000 for a pound of Cordyceps is now affordable by the mass population as a daily enhancement supplement.