Abstract:[Background] Cordyceps pruinosa is a traditional medicinal fungus, which has many kinds of pharmacological effects such as anti-radiation. Cordycepin is an important bioactive compound of this fungus. [Objective] The influencing factors of cordycepin extracted from Cordyceps pruinosa were studied, so as to provide reference for the preparation of cordycepin from the fungus. [Methods] With extraction yield of cordycepin as the target, the response surface methodology was used to optimize the ultrasonic extraction process. The effects of ultrasonic time, liquid-to-solid ratio and ultrasound power on the extraction efficiency were studied using single factor experiment, then a three levels of response surface methodology experiments was chose to optimize the extraction process. [Results] The results showed that the optimum extraction conditions were: ultrasonic time 606 s, liquid-to-solid ratio 45.9:1, ultrasound power 400 W. A cordycepin yield of 6.136 mg/g was obtained under this condition, which was close to the model predicted value and showed the fitting equation was good. [Conclusion] In this experiment, the extraction conditions of cordycepin in Cordyceps pruinosa were studied for the first time, which would provide reference for the production of cordycepin from Cordyceps pruinosa and be helpful for deep use of this fungus.