Chinese caterpillar. Amazing Tibetan mushroom yarsagumba. Key components of the supplement

In the mountains of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and the northern regions of India, either a mushroom or an insect grows - Yarsagumba. The literal translation of this name is: “Grass in summer, caterpillar in winter.” The official name of this mushroom is Cordyceps chinensis(lat. Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is a genus of mushrooms from the family Ophiocordycipitaceae, belongs to the class of ascomycetes.

A description of this strange combination of two forms of life is found in ancient Chinese treatises. The Chinese believed that those lucky enough to find yarsagumba would experience great changes in fate, long-term male wealth and attractiveness to the opposite sex.

Every summer, Nepalese go in search of a magical potion. During the season, you can find empty Tibetan villages, because the collection time is limited to one month a year. Only children and old people do not hunt for mushrooms.

It must be said that this miracle of nature is not easy to find; yarsagumba grows only at an altitude of 3,500 m above sea level, in shady places. It is strange that oxygen deficiency and strong temperature changes not only do not kill yarsagumba, but also give it unique properties.

UNKNOWN ANIMAL

When spores land on a larva or caterpillar, they penetrate the insect's head and grow into its body. It is at this time that the caterpillar's integument is most vulnerable after molting. In this case, the plant eats the insect from the inside until all the juices are completely drawn out of it.

But this does not happen right away, because the yarsagumba needs to somehow rise to the surface of the earth. Therefore, the fungus is the last to attack the vital organs of the caterpillar. In the end, the yarsagumba subjugates the poor fellow's motor apparatus and forces the insect to move forward. upper layer soil. This is how the dead caterpillar freezes upside down a few centimeters from the surface.

Another one interesting feature The fungus is that it fills the caterpillar so much that it does not decompose and is not infected by any other microorganisms.

Firstly, there is simply no place for them, and secondly, yarsagumba has properties similar to those of an antibiotic. Therefore, for cooking medicines Both parts of the mushroom are used.

The dark brown mature plant looks much like a caterpillar with a branch coming out of its head. It even follows the curve of the dead insect's body. The mushroom seems to consist of two parts: the lumpy light brown body of the caterpillar and the dark brown one, with smooth surface plant body.

The height of yarsagumba varies from 4 to 8 cm, and larger specimens are also found - up to 11 cm. Weight ranges from 300 to 500 mg. The thickness of the stem is from 3 to 4 mm. The mushroom tastes sweet and has a pleasant smell.

AN AMAZING DICTION

The first mention of this remedy in Tibetan medicine is contained in the work “On a Thousand Medicines,” the author of which was Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje (1439-1475). It was first mentioned in Chinese sources in 1649.

The healing properties of this plant were discovered many centuries ago by shepherds who noticed unusual activity in cattle that had eaten yarsagumba. Since then, the mushroom has been harvested and used as a tonic. But it was available only to the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. It is no coincidence that today a kilogram of yarsagumba costs between 7,000 and 8,000 dollars.

It is believed that if you constantly take medications based on this mushroom, you can prolong your life. Yarsagumba contains many substances that contribute to this, but their effect has not yet been fully studied.

A medicine prepared from the mushroom can defeat tuberculosis, relieve problems with the liver, kidneys, stomach, toothache, and back pain. Yarsagumba helps cope with leukemia, saves from depression, and restores the body after a long illness.

In addition, this natural aphrodisiac actively affects sex hormones and sexual arousal centers in the brain.

Research results have shown that yarsagumba helps restore full sexual health to 86% of women and 67% of men.

Nepalese boil the crushed mushroom in milk or infuse it with alcohol, then add it to tea or soup. In Western countries, preparations based on yarsagumba are sold in stores specializing in traditional medicine.

RECORDS NAMED AFTER YARSAGUMBA

Despite the fact that yarsagumba has long been actively used in Chinese medicine, it was practically unknown in Western countries. The mushroom gained fame in 1993 after the Chinese championship athletics, when three world records for running over different distances were set at once.

And these achievements remain records to this day. The world community could not leave it like this amazing fact without attention.

The three athletes who set the record underwent doping tests, but nothing foreign was found in their blood. Their coach reported that the girls ate turtle blood soup with the addition of yarsagumba decoction. This information was confirmed by the adviser to the Chinese national Olympic team. That’s when the “Yarsagumba boom” began in the USA and Europe.

MUSHROOM FEVER

The hunt for yarsagumba is reminiscent of the gold rush. By the way, this fishery is quite dangerous. Several people die during the season. A resident of Nar village, Nimchrng, says: “A year ago, the leader of our village was killed. He was stabbed to death by a group of alien yarsagumba collectors when he was checking whether they had permission to collect valuable raw materials. The crooks were fishing illegally, so they killed him and even tried to escape with the collected yarsagumba.”

For many local residents, harvesting mushrooms is the only way to make money. Moreover, those who went fishing earlier than the established period face a serious fine. Almost every picker produces about 1,000 pieces of yarsagumba per month, for which he can earn about $3,000. By the way, only local residents have licenses to collect mushrooms. Outsiders have no right to this.

It is clear that where there is something valuable, there will definitely be people who want to warm their hands on it. Yarsagumba is one of the smuggled items, which means that the proceeds from its sale go past the state treasury.

Nepalese authorities are going to establish a tax on mushroom harvesting, amounting to $70 per season per harvester. Resellers buy larvae infested with yarsagumba for $700 and sell them for $3,000. They guard the collectors, not allowing them to remove the goods. Violators caught are severely punished.

In addition to problems with the law, poaching yarsagumba entails environmental problems. The collectors do not stand on ceremony with nature in pursuit of profit. They do not look for mushrooms among the vegetation, but plow the soil like a tractor, tearing out the grass by the roots. In addition, visiting guest performers manage to harvest the mushroom before the start of the season.

From year to year the amount of valuable mushroom decreases. Experts warn that if this continues, Yarsagumba will completely disappear.

Galina BELYSHEVA

Syn: Himalayan Viagra, caterpillar mushroom, Tibetan mushroom, grass worm.

Ask the experts a question

In medicine

Cordyceps chinensis is not a pharmacopoeial plant and is not listed in the Register medicines RF. However, it is officially registered and approved for sale in Russia as a dietary supplement. Although medicinal properties cordyceps chinensis and have been the subject of numerous studies both in animals and in vitro, clinical studies have been conducted on the therapeutic use of the plant, the scientific community finds most of them methodologically incorrect and considers any claims about the established effectiveness of cordyceps to be premature. However, a number of large, randomized and well-controlled clinical studies still allow us to consider Cordyceps sinensis as a potential source of medicinal raw materials with a wide spectrum of action. The plant may be able to act as an immunomodulator, hepatoprotector, adaptogen, supposedly has anticarcinogenic, bacteriostatic, anti-inflammatory properties, has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, and promotes male fertility.

Contraindications and side effects

Although Chinese cordyceps has no contraindications, it cannot be said for sure that it is safe for pregnant and lactating women and children, since there are no reliable studies on this matter. Before using the plant, you should consult your doctor. Among side effects When using Cordyceps sinensis, some patients report dry mouth, nausea and diarrhea.

Classification

Botanical description

Like other mushrooms from the genus Ophiocordyceps, Cordyceps sinensis consists of two parts: the sclerotium and the stroma. The fungus reproduces by spores, which, like a homing weapon, “shoot” only when a caterpillar of a butterfly from the species of hop moth crawls past. Having stuck to the insect, the spores dissolve skin covering and penetrate the body, where they remain dormant until the caterpillar, on the eve of winter, begins to burrow into the ground to pupate.

Infected caterpillars always burrow into the ground like a soldier, head up. After the caterpillar plunges into the soil, the spores enter the active phase, germinating into the flesh and over time completely “eating away” the caterpillar, mummifying its body and filling it with sclerotium. A “stuffed” stuffed insect “sprouts” with stroma in late spring or early summer.

The stroma of Cordyceps chinensis is dark brown or black, less often yellow, and reaches a length of 4 - 10 centimeters and about 5 mm in girth. On the slender bare, longitudinally grooved or ribbed stalk of the mushroom, a club-shaped or fusiform granular head is clearly visible. The aroma of the mushroom seems pleasant and delicate to many, and the taste is sweetish.

Spreading

Cordyceps chinensis can only be found on the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas at an altitude of 3000 to 5000 meters.

Procurement of raw materials

Harvesting of Chinese cordyceps occurs exclusively by hand. In the summer, after the fungal stromas have germinated, peasants from the surrounding villages go out to “hunt”. They find fungi sticking out of the ground and carefully dig up the mummified body of the insect, stuffed with threads of Cordyceps sinensis mycelium. Mushrooms with a long body placed on a thick “caterpillar” are recognized as the best raw materials. Every year, peasants collect up to several tons of mushrooms, the price of which reaches 50 thousand dollars per kilogram.

Cordyceps powder is obtained from dried mushrooms, which are treated with ultraviolet light or sterilized with ultraviolet light before grinding. high temperatures. Some scientists believe that this destroys the active substances in the mushrooms; moreover, to obtain an effective dose, you have to eat handfuls of the capsules in which such powder is packaged. Those who want to receive a purified, concentrated and biologically active drug prefer to take Chinese Cordyceps extract. To do this, the mushroom is placed in alcohol for a while, then the alcohol is evaporated and a fine powder is obtained from this “liquid” Cordyceps chinensis.

Due to the high cost of raw materials and difficulties in obtaining them, scientists were able to isolate a strain from wild Cordyceps chinensis that can be cultivated industrially. In China, such a crop is grown in a liquid nutrient medium, and in the West they have managed to grow Cordyceps in laboratory conditions, using grain as a base.

Chemical composition

IN chemical composition Cordyceps chinensis found all essential amino acids, polyamines, saccharides, as well as all sugar derivatives, fatty and other organic acids, sterols and vitamins, including B vitamins: B1, B2, B12, vitamins E and K, as well as methanol , ethyl acetate, mannitol, ergosterol, adenine, adenosine, uracil, uridine, guanidine, guanosine, hypoxanthine, inosine, thymine, thymidine and deoxyuridine.

Pharmacological properties

Medicinal properties Cordyceps sinensis has been the subject of many scientific studies, but too many of them are considered methodologically questionable, so the scientific community considers all claims about the wide spectrum of action of the fungus to be somewhat premature.

However, it can be argued that Cordyceps sinensis extract enhances the activity of cytokines and induces cell cycle arrest and apotosis, reducing the proliferation of tumor cells, thereby making it possible to use Cordyceps sinensis in oncology. Experiments on mice have shown that taking the mushroom increases the survival rate of animals after radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Long-term clinical studies have been launched to study the use of Cordyceps for heart disease. Experiments on animals have confirmed the vascular-relaxant and vasodilating effects of the fungus. It reduces heart rate and fights arrhythmia. Experiments on animals have also confirmed the hepatoprotective effect of cordyceps.

In vitro studies have shown an increase in the phagocytic activity of macrophages, an increase in the enzymatic activity of acid phosphatase and a decrease in the expression of cyclooxygenase-2. Experiments on mice showed an increase in splenocyte proliferation, an increase in plasma corticosterone, and a decrease in the production of immunoglobulin E.

The bacteriostatic effect of Cordyceps sinensis against pathogenic bacteria, including Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as pneumococcus, has also been confirmed by a number of in vitro studies.

Use in folk medicine

Cordyceps chinensis is widely used in folk medicine. It is used for malignant neoplasms, in the complex treatment of cancer of the brain, liver, pancreas, kidneys, breast, and leukemia. Healers recommend taking cordyceps as an immunomodulator and hepatoprotector to remove toxic substances from the body, including radionuclides and medicinal compounds. Pills with mushroom powder are taken for bronchitis, bronchial asthma, cough, shortness of breath, pneumonia and other diseases of the respiratory system. They are taken for pyelonephritis and glomerulonephritis, cystitis, kidney diseases and diseases of the genitourinary system. Cordyceps is considered effective for diseases of the cardiovascular system and is recommended to be taken for angina pectoris, coronary sclerosis, after myocardial infarction, coronary disease heart, for the prevention of thrombosis.

Historical reference

Although medicinal use Cordyceps chinensis dates back centuries; the first written mention of the fungus dates back only to the 15th century. The Tibetan healer Zukar Namney Dorje wrote about him. In traditional Chinese medicine, the first healer to describe the effects of cordyceps was Ben Cao Beo Yao, who included the mushroom in his Materia medica of 1694. He claimed that cordyceps is used in medicinal purposes since the Tang Dynasty, that is, since the 7th century.

The Chinese believe that the properties of Cordyceps sinensis, one of the names of which is translated as “caterpillar in winter, mushroom in summer,” due to the characteristics of its development, has an ideal balance of yin and yang, so it can fight many diseases. In traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine, cordyceps was used primarily to combat aging. Elderly nobles took it in the hope of longevity, to stimulate male strength, to treat cardiovascular diseases, and as an immunomodulator. Cancer, hypoglycemia, asthenia, liver and respiratory system diseases were treated with cordyceps.

Cordyceps chinensis is a very expensive mushroom. Its sale is one of the most important sources of income for many peasants in Nepal, Bhutan, and some northern states of India bordering the Tibetan Plateau. Sometimes during the gathering, very bloody conflicts occur between residents of different villages, sometimes ending in murders. Therefore, cultivated mushrooms will be able to solve not only the issue of the high cost of cordyceps and the purity of raw materials, but also the “mushroom wars”.

Literature

1. “Collecting dead caterpillars in the mountains of Tibet”, magazine “Science and Life” No. 6, 2006 – 90 p.

The Himalayan mountains, along which the border of Nepal and Tibet lies, are considered one of the most lost corners of the planet. Foreign tourists go hiking along the so-called Annapurna Circuit, a route that runs through snow-covered passes at an altitude of more than 5 thousand meters.

"It used to be considered a sin"

As a cold night descends on a Himalayan village, Sangay Gurung and his wife gather around the fire to cook a dinner of rice and vegetables. Sangay says he can sell me yarsagumba. He inherited a little of this valuable drug from his son, who earns money by collecting it.

53-year-old Sangay Gurung for mushrooms
does not go. This is what his son does

“Sangai Gurung himself is not happy that he got a few fragile mummified caterpillars in which the mushroom has sprouted. “We believe that trading yarsagumba is a sin,” he says. - According to Buddhist tradition, we should not collect it. That's what my grandfathers told me, and I obeyed them."

I am 53 years old and have never harvested [Chinese cordyceps], but the younger generation is different,” Gurung adds. “They don’t believe in sin or religion, so they make money from it.”

Viagra of various actions

Over the past 500 years, Chinese Cordyceps has earned a reputation in China as a powerful aphrodisiac. It grows only in the Himalayas at an altitude of more than 3.5 thousand meters. And the traditional time for collection comes in the spring, on the eve of the rainy season. Every year, hundreds of Tibetan traders illegally cross the border into Nepal to buy yarsagumba from locals and then resell it in China. The cost of 1 kilogram reaches 10 thousand dollars.

“The medicinal properties of yarsagumba are very diverse,” says medical anthropologist Carol Dunham, who worked in Nepal for 25 years. “It is known to boost immunity and is also considered an excellent potency enhancer, similar to Viagra.” All this has led to the fact that yarsagumba has become the most expensive raw material in this remote region of the world, which does not have rich economic opportunities.

Yarsagumba can be found
at an altitude of more than 3.5 thousand meters

“Mushroom fishing” has become so profitable that local authorities even began to issue special permits for collection. In some areas, such permits cost more for people from outside the region. And in some places, outsiders are simply prohibited from engaging in this profitable trade.

Mushroom areas are protected with knives

For some residents of mountain villages, Yarsagumba became an opportunity to get rich, while for others it brought grief. In June 2009, seven men from the Gorkha region were killed for picking mushrooms in someone else's plot. The attackers used sticks and knives, and the bodies of the dead were thrown into a deep gorge.

Nal Pramad Upadhyay, who led the investigation into the case, says five bodies were never recovered. “We rescued two of them from a very difficult place; we had to use ropes to lift them,” says the policeman. “It was a very large operation: we mobilized more than 80 police officers. As a result, 36 people from the small village of Nar were arrested. All of them are still awaiting the court's verdict.

District Education Department building,
converted into a prison

There is no prison in the area that can accommodate all the detainees, so the authorities assigned the building of the local education department to the prisoners.

Since there is no prison in the area, the prisoners were put in the building of the local education department. In the last few months, 17 people have been released on bail. The rest sit behind barbed wire and play cards. Relatives bring them food.

“I think my brother will be released very soon,” says Samma Tsering. “Every time I see him, he says he hasn’t done anything.”

Since most of the men in Nar village are in prison, there is no one to work, says Samma. “Our land has become desolate,” she complains. “There is no one to plow, and we have not sown anything for two years.” A verdict in the Yarsgumba massacre case is expected in February. And in March, a new season for collecting a valuable mushroom will begin, which in the old days was said to bring nothing but trouble.

For a handful of dried “roots” a Tibetan gets twenty dollars.

Collecting fungus on a mountainside.

The fungus Cordyceps chinensis lives at altitudes of 3000 meters or more, on the caterpillars of a certain species of butterfly. Having infected a caterpillar that overwinters in the soil, the fungus gradually occupies with its mycelium the entire interior of its skin. In the spring, a stalk grows upward from a dead caterpillar, at the end of which spores ripen, carried by the wind and infecting new caterpillars. Before the appearance of specialists in entomopathogenic fungi in these parts, the stalk together with the corpse of the caterpillar was considered the root of some plant. According to local legend, either a thousand or two thousand years ago, shepherds first noticed it. They noticed that yaks and sheep that eat this “root” become more resilient and active.

In China, for many centuries, all cordyceps collected in the mountains went to the imperial court. Cordyceps made the entire civilized world start talking about itself only in 1993, when at the National Games in Beijing no one had ever seen it before. famous Chinese women literally crushed the world records for women's 1500, 3000 and 10,000 meters. When asked by journalists, the trainer of the runners, whose records have not been broken to this day, answered that the success is explained by the life-giving effect of the fungus.

Since then, the demand for cordyceps around the world has been growing every year. As the environmental damage to the Tibetan Plateau continues to grow. A new impetus to the demand for Tibetan fungus was given by the SARS outbreak in Southeast Asia (2003), and prices for dried stems reached $7,000 per kilogram - only half the price of gold. It is estimated that in 2002 two tons of dead caterpillars with fungus growing from them were collected in Tibet, and in 2003 - already six tons. English ecologist Paul Cannon, who studied the situation in the Jigme Dorji National Park in Bhutan, believes that cordyceps collectors put massive pressure on the landscape, fauna and flora, trampling valuable plants, including medicinal ones. At a minimum, says Cannon, it is necessary to develop a licensing system for collection, and even better would be to establish artificial breeding of caterpillars and fungus. This could be done by local peasants, for many of whom the cordyceps, collected two or three months a year, serves as the main source of income for the entire year (of course, buyers pay them significantly less than the final price).

As for scientific medicine, it does not have clear data on the value of the fungus. Studies are few in number, and some of them claim that cordyceps extract accelerates the death of diseased and old cells in the body, while others claim that, on the contrary, it prolongs their lifespan. According to some reports, substances contained in the fungus neutralize the destructive effects of oxygen free radicals (see "Science and Life" No.). According to a group of English researchers, a drug based on cordyceps activates aerobic metabolism, but there is no confirmation from other sources yet, and, somewhat suspiciously, the study was paid for by the American company that produces this very drug.