The kinetics of solid-liquid extraction of bioactive adenosine and cordycepin from the mycelia of C. sinensis CS1197 was studied. Hot water extraction was carried out at temperature 70, 80 and 90 degrees C and pH 3, 4 and 5 and mechanism of extraction was studied by applying Fick's diffusion and empirical models. Akaike information criterion (AIC) was employed for selection of the best model among candidate models. Based on AIC, the parabolic diffusion model was found to be the best among competitive models with high R-2 value. Diffusion coefficient for adenosine and cordycepin extraction were 1.06 x 10(-12)-2.13 x 10(-12) and 1.06 x 10(-12)-2.85 x 10(-12) m(2) s(-1) respectively. Thermodynamic analysis of the process revealed that extraction of adenosine and cordycepin is feasible, endothermic and spontaneous at pH 4 and temperature 70 degrees C. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.