Chinese "King of Herbs"-Ginseng

29/03/2021

What is Ginseng extract

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Mey), a perennial herbaceous plant in the Araliaceae family, is called "ginseng" in China because of its roots are hypertrophied and often bifurcated, which like a human head and limbs [1]. Also known as Korean ginseng, Asian ginseng and Chinese ginseng, The plant genus Panax means "to cure all diseases" in Greek. It has the same origin as "Panacea" [2]. Ginseng is one of the important components of traditional Chinses medicinal materials, the medicinal parts are roots and rhizomes. Ginseng is mainly grown in Northeast China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and eastern Russia because its leaves lack stomata and palisade tissue, which can't retain water and will burn the leaves when the temperature is higher than 32 degrees. Ginseng usually takes 3 years to blossom, 5-6 years to bear fruit, and 5-6 years to harvest ginseng roots. The chemical composition of ginseng is relatively complex, rich in active substances, including ginsenosides, volatile oils, ginseng polysaccharides, flavonoids, fatty acids, vitamins, proteins, sterols, lignin and trace elements. The iconic component in ginseng is ginsenoside, and its content is about 4% [3]. Ginseng extract refers to the powdered product obtained after a series of processing of  extracting, concentrating, refining, drying, crushing, and sieving the ginseng root, which takes ginsenoside as the active ingredient. It can be processed into finished products and applied to food, health care products, cosmetics, daily necessities and other industries.

Panax Ginseng

Different Types of Ginseng


According to the growth environment classification: wild ginseng, mountain cultivated ginseng, transplanted wild ginseng and cultivated ginseng.


Wild ginseng: Completely wild ginseng, the whole process has not undergone any artificial interference.
Mountain cultivated ginseng: According to the growth habits of wild ginseng, select suitable mountain forests, and let them grow naturally without human intervention after artificial sowing.
Transplanted wild ginseng: Transplant wild ginseng seedlings into fields or cultivated ginseng seedlings into mountains.
Cultivated ginseng: Refers to completely artificially cultivated ginseng.



According to the origin classification: Chinese ginseng, Korean ginseng and American ginseng.


Chinese ginseng is mainly produced in Jilin Province, China.
Korean ginseng generally refers to red ginseng produced in the Korean Peninsula.
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is native to Greater Quebec in Canada and Wisconsin in the United States. Currently, it is also grown in Huairou in Beijing and Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province.



According to the processing methods classification: white ginseng, red ginseng, black ginseng, etc.


White ginseng: White ginseng is peeled and dried ginseng. Drying in the sun bleaches the root to a yellowish-white color.
Red ginseng: Red ginseng is steamed and dried ginseng, which has reddish color.
Black ginseng: Based on the principle of ancient Chinese craftsmanship, using improved modern patented craftsmanship, ginseng is sun-dried after steamed. After repeated times, the ginseng is dark brown to black.


 

Panax Ginseng


 

The Benefits of Ginseng


Modern pharmacological studies have shown that ginsenosides have the following effects.
Central nervous system: According to the functional state of the nervous system, the size of the dose and the different ginseng components of the selected, ginseng has a two-way effect on the central nervous system [4-6]. For example, ginsenoside Rg1 can protect rat cerebral cortical nerve cells and dopaminergic neurons, and ginsenoside Rb2 and Rg1 have obvious anti-ischemic effects on nerve cells.

Stress action: Oral administration of ginsenoside capsules before surgery can help reduce post-operative stress response, reduce post-operative fatigue, and promote early recovery of elderly patients with gastrointestinal surgery [7].

Circulatory system: It can regulate blood pressure in both directions, strengthen the heart, and protect the myocardium. Ginsenoside Rb1 can effectively inhibit ventricular remodeling in rats with acute myocardial infarction [8]. Ginsenoside Rg1 can increase the number of stem cells in the peripheral blood, reduce the infarct size [9], and have a certain effect on promoting the differentiation of bone marrow cells into vascular endothelial cells [10]. Ginsenoside Rg2 has a cardiotonic effect [11]. Ginsengdiol group saponins have a protective effect on cardiomyocytes in dogs with acute myocardial infarction [12].

Endocrine system: Ginseng has no sex hormone-like effect and can promote the secretion of gonadotropins from the pituitary. Ginsenoside Rb1 can significantly improve the sexual performance of mice [13].

Material metabolism: The ethanol extract of ginseng has a hypoglycemic effect on experimental animal hyperglycemia caused by alloxan [14]. Ginsenoside Rg1 can delay the reduction of muscle glycogen and liver glycogen levels, reduce blood lactic acid concentration. Long-term application of ginseng treatment can improve plasma metabolism and normalize the body's functions [15]. Ginsenosides Rc, Rh, and Rb2 can have a lipid-lowering effect by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity [16].

Hematopoietic system: Ethanol extract or water extract of ginseng can increase the level of erythropoietin in the bone marrow, liver and spleen of rabbits.

Liver function: ginsengdiol has a certain protective effect on obstructive jaundice liver injury [17], low-dose ginsenoside CK has a certain protective effect on chronic liver damage caused by carbon tetrachloride [18], ginsenoside Rg1 has Anti-liver fibrosis effect [19].

Anti-tumor: Ginsenoside Rg2 can inhibit the growth of B16 melanoma [20], Ginsenoside Rg3 can effectively inhibit the growth of human colorectal cancer cell line HCE8693 [21]. Ginsenoside Rh2 has inhibitory effects on human laryngeal carcinoma cell line Hep-2 and liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721.

Immune function: Ginsenoside Rg1 and its intestinal bacteria metabolite Rh1 can regulate the immune function of the body[22], Ginsenoside Rg3 can enhance the humoral immune function of normal mice, partly enhance the non-specific immune function, and has no significant effect on cellular immunity[23].

Memory: Ginsenoside Rg1 can improve human cognitive function, increase 'working' memory (WM), and improve the cognitive ability of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Ginsenoside Rb1 has a significant proliferation effect on hippocampal local cells , And can enhance the survival time of cells. Ginsenoside Rg2 can increase the expression of protein, and effectively improve the memory ability of rats with vascular dementia by improving cell apoptosis [24].

Anti-aging: Various ginsenosides in ginseng are considered to have anti-oxidation and anti-aging effects. They have a two-way effect on the nervous system, balance the two processes of nerve excitement and nerve inhibition, and improve human intelligence and the labor efficiency of physical strength. , Increase anti-aging properties [25].

Ginseng volatile oil has the unique fragrance of ginseng, without strong irritation, and most of them have antibacterial effects [26]. In addition, some volatile components with anti-cancer, skin care, cold resistance, sedative and analgesic effects have been continuously extracted [27-28].

Ginseng polysaccharideis composed of ginseng starch (80%) and ginseng pectin (20%), and has the effects of antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anti-tumor, and anti-complement activity [29-32].

The total flavonoids in ginseng can increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes in brain tissue, thereby enhancing the antioxidant capacity of brain tissue [33].

The 44 kinds of inorganic elements such as copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, germanium, aluminum and silicon and organic germanium contained in ginseng are also of great significance to the endocrine and immune processes of the human body [34].

Application of Ginseng


Condiments: ginseng fermented vinegar, etc.

Daily necessities: ginseng shampoo, ginseng soap, etc.

Skin care products: ginseng essence, ginseng eye cream, etc.

Drinks: ginseng cola, ginseng tea, ginseng coffee, ginseng wine, ginseng tea bags, etc.

Health products: tablets, capsules (soft capsules, hard capsules), powders, granules, health functional beverages

Food: Ginseng candy, ginseng bread, ginseng biscuit, ginseng jam, ginseng instant noodles, ginseng polysaccharide nutritional rice, etc.

Panax Ginseng

 
 


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