Supercritical fluid extraction of cordycepin and adenosine from Cordyceps

1. Introduction
The fungi of genus Cordyceps belonging to Clavicipitaceae,Ascomycotina[1,2], have received significant attention from medical and pharmacological researchers [3–5]. There are more than300 species in this genus,Cordycepsare generally regarded asrich sources of biologically active compounds, which play important roles due to their biomedical functions. Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris, two well-known Cordyceps sp., are com
monly used for treatment of hyperglycemia, respiratory liver diseases, renal dysfunction and renal failure[6–8]. Modern stud ies recently demonstrated that various species possess multiple pharmacological actions, to be specific, anti-tumor, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects[9,10]. Further more, a variety of the effective chemical constituents including cordycepin, adenosine, ergosterol, myriocin and polysaccharides have been isolated from various species[11–16].

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