यारसा गम्बू YARSAGUMBA

WHAT IS YARSAGUMBA

is Nepalized Tibetan name „dbyar rtswa dgun'bu“ (summer grass, winter worm) for a rare fungus that parasites on the body of a caterpillar of a moth (genus THITARODES). This so-called CATERPILLAR FUNGUS (CORDYCEPS, or also OPHIOCORDYCEPS SINENSIS) grows only at high altitudes in Tibet, Nepal, China, Bhutan and North-East India. For its medical effects, YARSAGUMBA has been an important component for a many of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, due to a constantly growing demand and the difficulties in harvesting, YARSAGUMBA has become the most expansive medicinal substance in the world.

GENESIS OF CATERPILLAR FUNGUS

The caterpillar of a moth genus THITARODES (Hepialus) lives underground in alpine grass and shrublands on the Tibetian Plateau and Himalayas (at an altitude of 3000-5000 m) spending up to 5 years underground before pupating, feeding on roots of a plants. During this larvae state, the caterpillar is attacked by a fungus of the genus OPHIOCORDYCIPITACEAE. (It is not certain how the fungus infects the caterpillar - possibly by ingestion of a fungal spore or by the fungus mycelium, invading the insect through its breathing pores.) The fungus fills its entire body cavity with mycelium, eventually killing and mummifying the insect. Before this happens, somehow, the fungus causes the caterpillar to get near the top of its burrow. In springtime, after the snow melts, mushrooms emerge from the ground, always growing out of forehead of the caterpillar. The size of a mature mushroom reaches 5-15 cm above the surface and relaeases its spores onto the ground, and the cycle repeats.

Yarsagumba – Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps) sinensis – Nagchu (Tibet), photo Daniel Winkler

HISTORY

According to Himalayan legend, YARSAGUMBA was discovered by Tibetan and Nepalese herders who, in springtime, noticed grazing yaks and goats acting stragely in the high mountain pasture. After eating this strange looking substance, the animals would become frisky and start chasing each other around with lustfull intent. Soon the locals were consuming YARSAGUMBA and also experiencing this added vigor.

The earliest known documantation of CATERPILLAR FUNGUS (chinese DONG CHONG XIA CIAO, japanese TOCHUKASO) is by Nyamnyi Dorje, a Tibetan physician and lama who lived from 1439–1475. His text titled "An Ocean of Afrodisiacal Qualities", describes the value of the mushroom as a sexual tonic (Daniel Winkler-Yartsa Gunbu and the Fungal Commodification of Tibetś Rural Economy). Here is first few stanzas (translated by Jacob Winkler):

"In this world sexual disires
is the most marvelous of all earthy pleasures,
the essence of the enjoyment of all the senses...

As to this medicial substance
it grows in regions of beautiful moutains,
such as remote grassland moutains."

Tibetan scholars wrote of the mysterious healing animal/plant through the 15th to 18th centuries and in 1757, the earliest objective and scientifically reliable depiction of the CATERPILLAR FUNGUS was written by Wu-Yilou in the Ben Cao Congxin (New Compilation of Materia Medica). The first Western publication came from a French Jesuit priest named Perennin Jean Baptiste du Halde (1674–1743) who recomend his experinces with this mythical healing agent while a guest at the Emperor's court in China

USAGE

IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

the CATERPILLAR FUNGUS is mostly used as a tonic. According to Liu (1994), its main applications are for treating exhaustion, respiratory and pulmonary diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, asthma), renal, liver, and cardiovascular diseases, back pain, and sexual problems (e.g., lack of sex drive, premature ejaculation). Its use as an aphrodisiac seems to be the driving force with male consumers in China, or at least that is the perception of Tibetan harvesters, who often make a point of saying that they, by contrast, have no need to take it for this purpose (!).

In a recent treatise on Tibetan medicine (Gawä Dorje 1995), CORDYCEPS (referred to as yartsa gunbu) is placed in the category of tsi men (Wylie 1959: rtsi sman), the “medicinal essences”, which includes several tonics. It is recommended as a general tonic, for boosting the immune system and virility, and is prescribed, usually in conjunction with other medicines, for kidney, lung, and heart problems, as well as for Hepatitis B; nowadays it is also frequently mentioned as improving eyesight.

For an overview of modern research on CORDYCEPS SINENSIS, including possible anti-tumor, anti-cancer, and anti-viral activity, immuno-modulating, cholesterol-reducing and anti-oxidant effects, and potential to increase stamina and libido, see Zhu et al. (1998), Holliday and Cleaver (2004), and Canney (2006).

THE MARVELOUS MEDICINAL MUSHROOM IS COMMONLY USED FOR

• source of energy
• increasing stamina
• strengthen kidneys (yang tonic), and lungs (yin tonic)
• strong afrodisiac, increasing libido of both men and women
• against excessive tiredness and fatigue
• strengthening of health and prevention of maladies
• rejuvenating effects
• it is popular among a sportsmens, because is increasing energy levels, endurance, size of muscles and strength of the body - removes prana diseases
• does not raise the phlegm
• increase semen
• decreases stress and evokes fellings of calmness and sense of balance

DOSAGE OF CORDYCEPS SINENSIS

For a healthy person who uses YARSAGUMBA as an aphrodisiac, life-giving, stimulant for sports etc. The recomended dose is: 0,3—0,7 g ( 1—2 pcs according to the size) daily, eat whole mushroom in original form, or overflow with boiling water (tea) and eat after 20 min., or powder it and drink with milk, for 3—4 days. After pausing for 3 days it is possible to repeat dosage. In the case of particular health problems, the dosages are often higher, but it is recomended to consultate this with your doctor.

In Asia YARSAGUMBA is cooked with many kind of dishes: chicken or duck soup, pork specialities, boiling it in ducks stomachs, or feeding the duck with CATERPILLAR FUNGUS and after 2—3 days preparing the duck and eating it. (This pre-fed duck usually has very tasty meat!) As a powder it is often consumed with drinking water, milk or tea.

The taste is pleasant, sweet, with a nutty-mushroom flavor. Any aversion to consuming caterpillars (although actually there is no more caterpillar, just its cover) is quickly overwhelmed by the benefit which YARSAGUMBA provides. There is no possibility of overdose with CATERPILLAR FUNGUS, and, according to all available information, there are no known harmful or negative side effects, even for pregnant women.

Traditional Chinese Medicine store in Xining (Qinghai province).

TCM store in Chengdu.

The constantly growing demand and difficualties invoved in harvesting has led to skyrocketing prices (Since 1980, prices have grown about 350x for wild CORDYCEPS SINENSIS!) In fact, natural reserves are not big enough to even cover domestic consumption. This has led to attempts at cultivation. Many commercial products such as tablets, pills, and powders include cultivated biomass of CATERPILLAR FUNGUS (instead of caterpillars, they use peas, brown rice, or other mediums which are infected by spores of YARSAGUMBA. The end result is a biomass which may contains similar active components to wild OPHIOCORDYCEPS SINENSIS (cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine), D-mannitol, polysacharids, amino acids, etc.) but without the same parameters of a quality, intensity and effectiveness as wild, natural CATERPILLAR FUNGUS.

Yarsagumba in He Hua Chi – Chinese Herbal Medicine Market in Chengdu 2011 – 360.000 RMB/kg (about 56.600 USD/kg).

Ophiocordyceps sinensis

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Ophiocordyceps sinensis
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (left) growing out of the head of a dead caterpillar
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Order:	Hypocreales
Family:	Ophiocordycipitaceae
Genus:	Ophiocordyceps
Species:	O. sinensis
Binomial name
Synonyms[1]

There are over 680 documented species of the sac fungus genus Ophiocordyceps, and one of the best known of these is Ophiocordyceps sinensis, colloquially known as caterpillar fungus. The fungus is known in Tibetan as yartsa gunbu or yatsa gunbu, and in Chinese as dong chong xia cao (Chinese: 冬虫夏草; literally "winter worm, summer grass").

Caterpillar fungi are the result of a parasitic relationship between the fungus and the larva of the ghost moth genus Thitarodes, several species of which live on the Tibetan Plateau (Tibet, Qinghai, West-Sichuan, SW-Gansu & NW Yunnan), and the Himalayas India, Nepal, Bhutan). The fungus germinates in living organisms (in some cases larvae), kills and mummifies the insect, and then the fungus grows from the body of the insect.

O. sinensis is known in the West as a medicinal mushroom, and its use has a long history in Traditional Chinese medicine as well as Traditional Tibetan medicine.^[2] The hand-collected fungus-caterpillar combination is valued by herbalists and as a status symbol;^[3] it is used as an aphrodisiac and treatment for ailments such as fatigue and cancer, although such use is mainly based on traditional Chinese medicine and anecdote.

Recent^[when?] research however seems to indicate a variety of beneficial effects in animal testing, including increased physical endurance through heightened ATP production in rats^[4].

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first described scientifically by Miles Berkeley in 1843 as Sphaeria sinensis;^[5] Pier Andrea Saccardo transferred the species to the genus Cordyceps in 1878.^[6] The scientific name's etymology is from the Latin cord "club", ceps "head", and sinensis "from China". The fungus was known as Cordyceps sinensis until 2007, when molecular analysis was used to emend the classification of the Cordycipitaceae and the Clavicipitaceae, resulting in the naming of a new family Ophiocordycipitaceae and the transfer of several Cordyceps species to Ophiocordyceps.^[7]

In Tibetan it is known as དབྱར་རྩྭ་དགུན་འབུ་ yartsa gunbu [Wylie: dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu, "summer herb winter worm"], which is the source of the Nepali यार्शागुम्बा, yarshagumba, yarchagumba or yarsagumba. The transliteration in Bhutan is Yartsa Guenboob. It is known as keera jhar, keeda jadi, keeda ghas or 'ghaas fafoond in Hindi. Its name in Chinese dong chong xia cao (冬蟲夏草) means "winter worm, summer grass" (i.e., "worm in the winter, [turns to] plant in the summer"). The Chinese name is a literal translation of the original Tibetan name, which was first recorded in the 15th Century by the Tibetan doctor Zurkhar Namnyi Dorje. In colloquial Tibetan Yartsa gunbu is often shortened to simply "bu" or "yartsa".

In traditional Chinese medicine, its name is often abbreviated as chong cao (蟲草 "insect plant"), a name that also applies to other Cordyceps species, such as C. militaris. In Japanese, it is known by the Japanese reading of the characters for the Chinese name, tōchūkasō (冬虫夏草).

Strangely, sometimes in Chinese English language texts Cordyceps sinensis is referred to as aweto^{[citation needed]}, which is the Māori name for Cordyceps robertsii, a species from New Zealand.

The English term "vegetable caterpillar" is a misnomer, as no plant is involved. "Caterpillar fungus" is a preferable term.

Natural history

The caterpillars prone to infection by the fungus which live underground in alpine grass and shrublands on the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas at an altitude between 3,000 and 5,000 m (9,800 and 16,000 ft). Spending up to five years underground before pupating, the Thitarodes caterpillar is attacked while feeding on roots. It is not certain how the fungus infects the caterpillar; possibly by ingestion of a fungal spore or by the fungus mycelium invading the insect through one of the insect's breathing pores. The fungus invades the body of the caterpillars, filling its entire body cavity with mycelia and eventually killing and mummifying it. The caterpillars die near the tops of their burrows. The dark brown to black fruiting body (or mushroom) emerges from the ground in spring or early summer, always growing out of the forehead of the caterpillar. The long, usually columnar fruiting body reaches 5–15 cm above the surface and releases spores.

In Nepal caterpillar fungus is found on the subalpine pastures in Dolpa in Karnali Zone and Darchula in Mahakali zone. It is also common in Bhutan and India's Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Himalayas. Reports of distribution outside of "High Asia" are erroneous and relate to species of Cordyceps, e.g. Cordyceps militaris.

Use in Medicine

Traditional Asian medicines

Weighing the precious Caterpillar fungus in Yushu, Southern Qinghai, China, July 2009.

Medicinal use of the caterpillar fungus apparently originated in Tibet. So far the oldest known text documenting its use was written in the late fourteen hundreds by the Tibetan doctor Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje (Wylie: Zur mkhar mnyam nyid rdo rje)[1439-1475]) in his text: Man ngag bye ba ring bsrel ("Instructions on a Myriad of Medicines"). A translation is available at Winkler.^[8] However some Tibetan doctors {[which?}} suspect that its use might date back even further, but under different names. No conclusive research has been published on this hypothesis yet.

The first mention of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in traditional Chinese Medicine was in Wang Ang’s 1694 compendium of material medica, Ben Cao Bei Yao.^[9] In the 18th Century it was listed in Wu Yiluo's Ben cao cong xin ("New compilation of materia medica").^[10] No sources have been published to uphold widespread claims of "thousands of years of use in Chinese medicine" or use of "chong cao since the 7th Century Tang Dynasty in China". The ethno-mycological knowledge on caterpillar fungus among the Nepalese people is documented by Devkota(2006) The entire fungus-caterpillar combination is hand-collected for medicinal use.

The fungus is a medicinal mushroom which is highly prized by practitioners of Tibetan medicine, Chinese medicine and traditional Folk medicines, in which it is used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for a variety of ailments from fatigue to cancer. In Chinese medicine it is regarded as having an excellent balance of yin and yang as it is apparently both animal and vegetable. Assays have found that Ophiocordyceps species produce many pharmacologically active substances. They are now cultivated on an industrial scale for their medicinal value. However, no one has succeeded so far in growing the larva cum mushroom artificially. All artificial products are derived from mycelia grown on grains or in liquids.

According to Bensky et al. (2004), laboratory-grown C. sinensis mycelia have similar clinical efficacy and less associated toxicity. He notes a toxicity case of constipation, abdominal distension, and decreased peristalsis, two cases of irregular menstruation, and one case report of amenorrhea following ingestion of tablets or capsules containing C. sinensis. In Chinese medicine C. sinensis is considered sweet and warm, entering the lung and kidney channels; the typical dosage is 3–9 grams.^[11]

Research

Cordycepin, a compound isolated from the "Caterpillar fungus".

Some work has been published in which Ophiocordyceps sinensis has been used to protect the bone marrow and digestive systems of mice from whole body irradiation.^[12] An experiment noted Ophiocordyceps sinensis may protect the liver from damage.^[13] An experiment conducted with mice noted the mushroom may have an anti-depressant effect.^[14] Researchers have noted that the caterpillar fungus has a hypoglycemic effect and may be beneficial for people with insulin resistance.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} There is also experimental evidence of the supposed energizing effect of the fungus, as it has been shown to increase endurance through heightened ATP production in rats^[4].

The Western world was largely unaware of Ophiocordyceps prior to 1993. The fungus dramatically caught the world's eye due to the performance of three female Chinese athletes, Wang Junxia, Qu Yunxia, and Zhang Linli. These athletes broke five world records for 1,500, 3,000 and 10,000 meter dashes at the National Games in Beijing, China. The number of new world records set at a single track event attracted much attention and suspicion. Following the races, the women were expected by some to fail drug tests for anabolic steroids. However, the athletes' tests revealed no illegal substances, and coach Ma Junren told the reporters that the runners were taking Ophiocordyceps sinensis and turtle blood at his request. However for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Ma Junren withdrew some of his athletes at the last minute. It was speculated that a new doping test would have revealed illegal substances, thus half a dozen Chinese field and track athletes were left at home.

Economics and impact

In rural Tibet, yartsa gunbu has become the most important source of cash income. The fungi contributed 40% of the annual cash income to local households and 8.5% to the GDP in 2004. Prices have increased continuously, especially since the late 1990s. In 2008, one kilogram traded for US$3,000 (lowest quality) to over US$18,000 (best quality, largest larvae). The annual production on the Tibetan Plateau was estimated in 2009 at 80–175 tons.^[20] The Himalayan Ophiocordyceps production might not exceed a few tons.

In 2004 the value of a kilogram of caterpillars was estimated at about 30,000 to 60,000 Nepali rupees in Nepal, and about Rs 100,000 in India.^[21] In 2011 the value of a kilogram of caterpillars was estimated at about 350,000 to 450,000 Nepali rupees in Nepal. A 2012 BBC article indicated that in north Indian villages a single fungus was worth Rs 150 (about £2 or $3), which is more than the daily wage of a manual laborer.^[22]

According to Daniel Winkler, the price of Ophiocordyceps sinensis has risen dramatically on the Tibetan Plateau, basically 900% between 1998 and 2008, an annual average of over 20% (after inflation). However, the value of big sized caterpillar fungus has increased more dramatically than smaller size Cordyceps, regarded as lower quality.^[9]

Year	% Price Increase	Price/kg (Yuan)
1980s		1,800
1997	467% (incl. inflation)	8,400
2004	429% (incl. inflation)	36,000
2005		10,000–60,000

Because of its high value, inter-village conflicts over access to its grassland habitats has become a headache for the local governing bodies and in several cases people were killed. In November 2011, a court in Nepal convicted 19 villagers over the murder of a group of farmers during a fight over the prized aphrodisiac fungus. Seven farmers were killed in the remote northern district of Manang in June 2009 after going to forage for Yarchagumba. ^[23]

Its value gave it a role in the Nepalese Civil War, as the Nepalese Maoists and government forces fought for control of the lucrative export trade during the June–July harvest season.^[24] Collecting yarchagumba in Nepal had only been legalised in 2001, and now demand is highest in countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. By 2002, the herb was valued at R 105,000 ($1,435) per kilogram, allowing the government to charge a royalty of R 20,000 ($280) per kilogram.

The search for Ophiocordyceps sinensis is often perceived to pose a threat to the environment of the Tibetan Plateau where it grows. While it has been collected for centuries and is still common in such areas, current collection rates are much higher than in historical times.

Ophiocordyceps producers like to perpetuate the story that unscrupulous harvesters insert twigs into the ascocarps of wild C. sinensis to increase their weight and therefore the price paid. A tiny twig is only used when the ascocarp is broken from the caterpillar, and has nothing to do with artificially increasing weight. Supposedly, at some point in the past, someone inserted lead wires with which to increase weight; however, each year hundreds of millions of specimens are harvested and this appears to have been a one-time occurrence.^{[citation needed]}

Cultivated C. sinensis mycelium is an alternative to wild-harvested C. sinensis, and producers claim it may offer improved consistency. Artificial culture of C. sinensis is typically by growth of pure mycelia in liquid culture (in China) or on grains (in the West). Ascocarps are not produced through in vitro cultivation.

Extinction Countdown

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News and research about endangered species from around the world

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Climate change and overharvesting have put a Himalayan fungus valued for its purported aphrodisiac qualities at risk of extinction.

Known variously as yarsagumba, yarchagumba, yartsa gunba, yatsa gunbu and, more colloquially, “Himalayan Viagra,” the parasitic caterpillar fungus Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) grows on and kills Tibetan ghost moths during their larval phase underground. A tiny mushroom sprouts from the head of the dead larva, poking a few millimeters out of the ground. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) claims the fungus—which is boiled and added to tea or soup—can act as an aphrodisiac, cure cancer and fight fatigue. These medical claims have not been borne out scientifically.

Although the fungus has been used in TCM for centuries, demand took off after 1993 when three female Chinese runners broke world records and their coach told the media he had fed the athletes yarsagumba in a soup of turtle blood.

Yarsagumba is harvested by Nepalese villagers who sell it for more than $25 a gram (retail prices soar to $150 per gram or more). But as Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, the growth in demand has made yarsagumba supplies scarce. Villagers who once collected 150 to 200 pieces of the fungus in a month are now only finding only 10, 20 or 30 pieces. AFP also cites climate change as a possible reason for shrinking supplies. The regions where the fungus normally grows have experienced lower levels of snow and rain as well as higher temperatures in the past few years.

Caterpillar fungus store in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. By Erik Törner via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license

One of the few actual studies of O. sinensis is being conducted by Uttam Babu Shrestha, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Shrestha found that the villagers who harvest yarsagumba live in mountainous regions that contain few natural resources and where agricultural productivity is low, making the fungus their primary source of income. In a project synopsis for a study funded by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation, he wrote that the depletion of the fungus would severely impact the economy and culture of the people who rely on it. The study, published February 1 in Nature, calculated the global market for yarsagumba to be between $5 billion and $11 billion. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

A 2008 study in Economic Botany found that fungus collection represented 40 percent of the rural cash income in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China, where it is also collected.

Shrestha is currently in Nepal’s Dolpa District, which provides more than half of China’s yarsagumba. He told AFP that 5,000 people have come to Dolpa this year to search for the fungus in 16 pastures, which are open from April to June, “but they haven’t found any.”

Shrinking supplies and high prices have also led to heightened tensions among fungus hunters, who pay nearly $100 each for annual collection licenses. Seven Nepalese men were found dead in 2009, possibly murdered for their yarsagumba.

The Yarsagumba Effect: Documenting the Ecology of Medicinal Plant Markets

The Yarsagumba Effect examines the ecology of medicinal plant markets, exposing issues of biopiracy, indigenous knowledge exploitation and overharvesting around the world.

From the highlands of Kazakhstan to the Amazon Basin, valuable medicinal plants and fungus are routinely cultivated, harvested and shipped out to demanding markets, researchers and pharmaceutical companies. What are the environmental impacts of this demand? Are local communities being exploited? Are exporters lying about the medicinal properties of plants to make more money? Is traditional knowledge being destroyed in the process?

Shae Frydenlund, a 2010 Watson Fellow, has spent the last year uncovering answers to these and other questions about the medicinal plant trade.

Travelling to Tibet, China, Russia, Tanzania, Ecuador, Peru, and Albania, Frydenlund is investigating what many Indigenous have come to know first hand, whether it's so-called 'discovery' and patent of a medicine plants in Tanzania, the exploitation of Maca in Peru, or the overharvesting of Yarsagumba, a fungus that inspired the title of Frydenlund's documentary, The Yarsagumba Effect.

Found in Nepal and Occupied Tibet, "Yarsagumba is a fungus prized by South Asians and is valued at $1000 per kilo.," says Frydenlund, in a brief introduction on her website. Overharvesting of Yarsagumba, which is sometimes referred to as 'Himalayan Viagra' or 'Himalayan Gold', has brought the fungus to the edge of extinction.

In addition to exploring industry harms and, she says, the "rich and complex ecologies of medicinal plant markets" , Frydenlund will also take the time to promote sustainability and conservation, something that companies clearly need to do themselves... putting reason and good faith before abject greed.

Yarsagumba - the gold rush

Yarsagumba with its Latin name cordyceps sinesis literally means summer plant and winter insect in Tibetan. Before the rainy season begins, spores of the cordyceps mushroom settle on the heads of caterpillars’ that lives underground. The fungus gets so much into the body of the caterpillars’ that it grows out through its head and drains all the energy from the insect and ultimately it dies.

Yarsagumba, Yarshagumba or Yarchagumba is a rare and unique herb that grows in the meadows above 3,500 meters (11,483 feet) in the Himalayan region of Nepal. There are various types of famous medicinal plants found in Nepal but the popularity of yarsagumba is simply overwhelming. For the last couple of years, the trade of yarsagumba is increasing and it has been regarded as an expensive life saving tonic. Headache, toothache or any other disease - yarsagumba is the remedy. And not only that, it is also believed to be a cure for sexual impotency – a Himalayan Herbal Viagra.

Every year during May and June, thousands of villagers from remote areas risking their own lives head for high mountains to collect yarsagumba. It is estimated that one villager can earn up to Rs. 2,500 approximately to $35 a day by collecting yarsagumba which is beyond the monthly salary of many Nepalese households. Dolpa – a remote district in western Nepal with high steep valleys and dry climate is one of the foremost areas for collecting yarsagumba. Almost 50% of the annual supply of yarsagumba comes from Dolpa alone. Here, not only the adults but school goers also take unofficial holidays in search of the gold rush.

Collection of yarsagumba was illegal until 2001 but following its popularity and the lobbying from various organizations, the Government lifted the ban but imposed a royalty rate of Rs. 20,000 (US$ 280) per kilogram (2.2lbs). One kilo of yarsagumba that costs about Rs. 315 (US$ 5/6) in 1992 increased to Rs. 105,000 (US$ 1,435) by the year 2002 and the price has been shooting up so as the international interest on the mysterious half-caterpillar-half-mushroom known as yarsagumba.

We would you like to provide information about the Cordyceps sinesis fungus on this page to help others learn more about this plant. Send us your comments or information via Email. Please note that VisitNepal.com is not involved in the business with Cordyceps sinesis (Yarsagumba) products.

The Himalayan mountain range that straddles the border between Nepal and Tibet is known as one of the most beautiful and remote places in the world.

Every year, thousands of tourists come here to trek on the Annapurna circuit which takes them high into the snowy mountains to climb passes over 5,000m (16404ft).

This isolated and barren landscape is home to Buddhist communities who have lived, farmed and traded here for centuries.

But in the last few years, this peaceful region has been rocked by jealousy, crime and murder.

All this is down to Yarsagumba, the small, fragile, mummified body of the Himalayan bat moth caterpillar that has been invaded by a fungus - and which is famous throughout the Himalayas as a powerful medicine.

'A sin'

As the freezing night falls in the Himalayan village of Humde, Sangay Gurung and his wife huddle around their fireside, preparing a supper of rice and vegetables.

Sangay tells me he can sell me some Yarsagumba.

Sangay Gurung believes it's a sin to trade in Yarsagumba

He has some of this precious substance because his son has collected it. But he is not happy handling it.

"We believe it's a sin to trade in Yarsagumba," he says.

"In our Buddhist culture we're not supposed to pick it - that's our tradition.

"My grandparents told me this and I obeyed them. I'm 53 now and I've never picked it. But the young generation is different. They don't believe in sin or religion so they're making money from it."

For the past 500 years, Yarsagumba (Cordyceps sinensis), has been prized as an aphrodisiac by the Chinese.

It can be found in the high pastures of the Himalayas above 3,500m, and is traditionally picked in early spring before the monsoon rains.

'Great aphrodisiac'

Each year, hundreds of Tibetan traders cross the border illegally into Nepal to buy Yarsagumba from local villagers and sell it back to China. One kilogram can fetch up to $10,000.

Three dozen villagers are being kept in a makeshift prison in Chame village

"The medical properties of Yarsagumba are numerous and many," says Carroll Dunham, a medical anthropologist who has worked in Nepal for the past 25 years.

"Yarsagumba is known as an immune booster. It's also known as a great aphrodisiac.

"It works in a way similar to Viagra. It's considered to be helpful for impotence in men and it's considered to be a great stimulant."

This has meant that Yarsagumba has become the most valuable commodity in this remote region that has few economic opportunities.

It has become so lucrative that the district government now operates a permit system for those who want to collect Yarsagumba.

In certain areas, the permits are more expensive for people from outside the region. In others, outsiders are completely banned from searching for the drug.

Turf war

For some mountain villagers, the chance to collect Yarsagumba has brought great wealth. But for others, it has brought great misery.

Samma Tsering says her brother is innocent

In June 2009, seven men from the low-lying Gorkha region of Nepal who came to the mountains to pick Yarsagumba were murdered by a local mob protecting their turf.

The men were attacked with sticks and knives and their bodies thrown into deep mountain ravines.

Nal Prasad Upadhay was the police officer in charge of the investigation.

"It was a very big operation. More than 80 police personnel were mobilised in that case," he says.

"Two bodies were collected from a very difficult place - the police had to use ropes to recover them. We couldn't find the other five bodies."

Thirty-six men from the remote village of Nar were arrested for the crime and are still waiting for a verdict.

Barren

There isn't a prison big enough to hold them in the mountain region, so they are being kept in a converted district education office in the village of Chame.

Yarsagumba is found in these beautiful and remote mountains

In the last few months, 17 men were let out on bail. The rest spend their time behind barbed wire, playing cards and basketball, and depend on their relatives to bring them food.

"I think my brother will be freed very soon," says Samma Tsering, who visits the prison daily.

"Whenever I meet him, he says that he hasn't done anything wrong."

Since her brother was arrested, Samma's life has become focused on supporting him.

Because most of the men from her village are in this jail, there is no one left behind to work.

"Our land is barren now," she says.

"There is no one to plough the fields so we haven't been able to grow anything for two years. Women who know how to do the men's work are somehow managing but most of them can't."

A verdict in the case of the Yarsagumba murders is expected in February.

From March, the Yarsagumba picking season will start again and hundreds of locals will scour the mountainsides searching for the valuable drug in the hope that they will make their fortune.

But for many who live here, Yarsagumba is not a blessing but a curse. And they remember the old Buddhist saying that it will bring nothing but bad luck.