Chinese cordyceps products, geographic traceability and authenticity assessment: current status, challenges, and future directions

Chinese cordyceps, a medicinal fungus and nutritional supplement native to the Tibetan Plateau, is highly celebrated for its potential health benefits and significant economic value. The quality of wild Chinese cordyceps varies across different production regions, resulting in considerable price differences. While the successful artificial cultivation of Chinese cordyceps marks a major breakthrough, it also introduces the challenge of distinguishing wild products from cultivated ones on the market. The industry faces critical issues arising from widespread fraudulent activities, such as geographic mislabeling, the substitution of wild cordyceps with cultivated ones, and counterfeiting. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the Chinese cordyceps products available on the market, including both wild and cultivated in dried and fresh forms, as well as fermentation products. It details fraudulent practices like mislabeling, substitution, adulteration, and artificial enhancement, and outlines methodologies for tracing the geographic origins of wild Chinese cordyceps, differentiating it from substitutes, and assessing authenticity. Although various methods have been developed, there remains a significant gap in terms of accessibility and practical implementation. Future efforts should prioritize extensive sampling, the creation of a comprehensive database of chemical fingerprints for Chinese cordyceps and related products, and the establishment of standardized workflows. By integrating this database with artificial intelligence and hyperspectral imaging technologies, it would be possible to develop rapid, nondestructive methods for geographic tracing and authenticity verification of Chinese cordyceps.