Table 2.

Example of the range of species and some of the low molecular-weight secondary metabolites from Cordyceps

Species	Secondary metabolites
C. sinensis	Cyclic peptides, H1-A
C. militaris	Cyclic peptides, cordycepin, 10-membered macrolides, cepharosporolides C, E and F, pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid and 2-carboxymethyl-4-(30-hydroxybutyl) furan, dipicolinic acid
C. pseudomilitaris	Bioxanthracenes
C. brunnearubra	Cordyformamide
C. sinclairii	(2S,3S,4R)-(E)-2-Amino-3,4-dihydroxy-2-hydroxymethyl-14-oxoeicos-6-enoic acid
C. cicadae	Ergosterol peroxide
C. nipponica	Cordypyridones A and B
C. ophioglossoides	Ophiocordin, glycoprotein containing N-acetylgalactosamine
C. heteropoda	Cicadapeptins I and II, myriocin

The number of compounds is small compared to that for Ganoderma (Paterson, 2006).