Arsenic Content in Cordyceps： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Cordyceps， a unique precious Chinese herbal medicine in China， has the effects of tonifying the kidney and lungs， stopping bleeding， and resolving phlegm. It has definite clinical effects on diabetes， respiratory diseases （such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease）， chronic kidney diseases， slow arrhythmia， and hyperlipidemia. We searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， Wanfang Data， VIP， SpringerLink （Biomedical Sciences）， Embase， Proquest （Life Sciences）， PubMed， Cochrane Library， and SinoMed for the research on the arsenic content in Cordyceps. According to statistical analysis， arsenic in Cordyceps mainly exists in the non-toxic or low-toxic form. The arsenic-containing compounds in Cordyceps may be an arsenic-sugar compound with anticancer effect. The inorganic arsenic content in Cordyceps is lower than the arsenic standard stipulated by the State Food and Drug Administration. It remains uncertain whether different measurement methods can affect the results. The total arsenic content varies in Cordyceps from different producing areas， and the general rule of total arsenic content in Cordyceps produced in different provinces， districts， and counties cannot be obtained from the results of the existing studies. The arsenic content in Cordyceps is mainly concentrated in the insect part， which is significantly different from that in stroma， and no arsenic is detected in the mycelia. The soil arsenic content in the growing areas is generally high， which may be a main reason for the high arsenic content in Cordyceps. As a valuable medicinal material for tonifying and nourishing， Cordyceps still plays an irreplaceable role in disease prevention， health care， chronic disease management， and rehabilitation.