Cordyceps sinensis, a species of the genus Ascomycetes, is recognised as the most famous tonic herb and natural remedy in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Various pharmacological actions of the chemical constituents of C. sinensis have been reported, including: antitumour effects, hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, and antioxidant, nephroprotective and anti-apoptotic properties. In this study we tested the antioxidant activity of extracts of the fungus C. sinensis grown on two subspecies of rice, Oryza sativa var. Indica and Oryza sativa var. Japonica. The extracts were prepared with methanol by two different extraction procedures (reflux and ultrasound). The antioxidant activity of the extracts was determined by the DPPH assay. Our investigations showed that the sample 1 (grown on Oryza sativa var. Japonica) exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the sample 2 (grown on Oryza sativa var. Indica). The higher antioxidant activity of the sample 1 was observed with both extraction procedures.
