China intruded India for Cordyceps: What does that mean?

New Delhi, Dec 27: The Chinese intrusion into Indian territory at Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh that was thwarted by the India Army was to collect Cordyceps, a report has said.

The Indo-Pacific Centre for Strategic Communications said on December 25 that the intrusion was to collect the expensive fungus also known as the caterpillar mushroom or Himalayan Gold. The Cordyceps is more expensive that gold in China, the report also said.

Cordyceps is a fungus which lives on certain caterpillars in the mountainous regions of China and according to a report published in the National Library of Medicine, the scientific name is Corcydeps.

It has been described as an exotic medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine the paper also said. The fungus is said to be parasitic in nature and can consume more than 90 per cent of the infected insect. Chinese traditional medicine recommends that the use of the insect and fungus remains be used to treat fatigue, sickness and kidney disease.

The WebMD says that the fungus is used for kidney and liver disorders, low sex drive and athletic performance, although there is no scientific evidence of the same.

Cordyceps is said to be taken in doses of 3-6 grams by mouth. The WebMD says that it can cause side-effects such as diarrhea, constipation, and stomach discomfort.

Cordyceps is traditionally found in the Indian Himalayas and at higher altitudes in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

"In the last two years, the Cordyceps harvest has waned in Qinghai, the largest producing region in China as the fungus grew scarce. At the same time, demand for the highly prized Cordyceps has increased sharply in the last decade as an emerging Chinese middle class seeks it to cure everything from kidney disorders to impotence, despite a lack of scientific evidence,"the Indo-Pacific Centre for Strategic Communications said.

The report also said that the output fell to 41,200 kg in 2018 from 43,500 kg a year earlier, a 5.2 percent slump, revealed data from the bureau. That's a fraction of the 150,000 kg reported by provincial media for 2010 and 2011.