Products sold as wild cordyceps often hold a cheaper fungus
DNA testing of supplements labelled Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the costly wild caterpillar fungus, turned up the cheaper Ophiocordyceps militaris instead.
What the study found
Once it is powder, nobody can tell these fungi apart by eye
Which is the state most supplements reach you in. DNA testing of market products labelled Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the costly wild caterpillar fungus, turned up the cheaper Ophiocordyceps militaris instead, and a Korean assay found two further fungi in cordyceps supplements.
The caveat · Shows it happens, not how often
Both are method papers: they show substitution happens without reporting how often it happens across a defined slice of the market. The products were bought in Asia, so the rate may not carry over to Western shelves. And DNA says which species is present, not how much of the product it accounts for.