China ginseng

The medical use of natural products has been verified among the Sumerians about4,000 years BC, who used among others Opium. In China, Ginseng, Rhubarb and Ma-Huang (Ephedra) have been used for at least 5,000 years. 

Acanthopanax ricinifolius Seem. (Kalopanax ricinifolius [Sieb. Zucc.] Miq, Kalopanax pictus [Thunb.] Nakai, Acer pictum [Thunb], Acanthopanax ricinifolium [Sieb. Zucc.] Seem, Kalopanax septemlobus Koidz. var septemlobus, Panax ricinU folium Siebold Zucc, Kalopanax ricinifolium Miq, Kalopanax pictum Nakai), or prickly ginseng, castor Aralia, prickly castor oil tree, or tzu ch iu shu (Chinese), is a deciduous tree that grows to 25 m in Siberia, Korea, Japan, and China. The bark is gray mottled with yellowish-white the stems are thorny and the leaves simple and palmate (Fig. 67). 

The popularity of ginseng has already led to its extinction in some parts of the world (such as South Korea) and to its classihcation as an endangered species in other parts (such as China) due to overharvesting. Today, more than 65 tons of the root are harvested in the United States each year, most of it going to the Far East. At this rate, the plant faces possible extinction in this country also. 

Further, ginseng constituents are polysaccharides, essential oil constituents, polyacetylenes, peptides, and other lipids (7). Ginseng is included in the pharmacopeias of several countries such as China, Germany, and the United Kingdom (113). Modern therapeutic claims refer to vitality, immune function, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and sexual function (114,115). More than 500 studies have been published on the pharmacological activity of ginseng (7,80). 

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer China Triterpenoid, quinquenosides, ginsenosides, oleanolic acid, panaxynol, beta-elemene, spemine, putrescine, spermindine.26 53 510 A stimulant, tonic, expectorant. 

The ginseng root is among the most important medicines used in traditional Chinese medicine. Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, family Araliaceae, has been used in China for more than 2000 years to combat psychophysical tiredness and asthenia. The earliest known mention of ginseng in Europe goes back to 1711 when a Jesuit, Father Jartoux,1 who worked in Chinese missions, sent a letter to the general procurator in Paris, describing this plant, which... 

Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng Korean ginseng, jen-shen Eastern China and Korea... 

Panax notoginseng notoginseng, sanchi ginseng South West China... 

Panax pseudo-ginseng tienchi ginseng China... 

China is the largest producer the average yield of ginseng per acre is only two thirds of what could be reasonably expected. This shortfall is caused almost entirely by diseases that attack the crop.12 Fungus diseases like Alternaria panax, Fusarium spp., Phytophtora cactorum, and Cylindrocarpon destructans can devastate ginseng cultivations. 

Y.J. Yang and C.Y. Shen, A list of ginseng diseases in China, in Proceedings of the International Ginseng Conference, Vancouver 1994, W.G. Bailey et al., Eds., Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, 1995 493. 

The roots of the herbaceous plants Panax ginseng (Araliaceae) from China, Korea, and Russia, and related Panax species, e.g. P. quinquefolium (American ginseng) from the USA... 

Ginseng. The dried roots of this plant, which is native to China, are believed to increase stamina and concentration. Few well-designed, rigorous studies of ginseng have been conducted, and those that have been done found no evidence for ginseng s effectiveness. 

Liu C, Xiao P. Recent advances on ginseng research in China. 1 Ethnopharmacol 1992 36 27-38. 

The following example indicates how appropriate resource management of a rare and endangered medicinal taxa can be accomplished. Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) has been essentially extirpated in the wild, and export of its seed from China for cultivation elsewhere is prohibited. Also, harvesting of its American counterpart Panax quinquefolius), from its... 

Ginseng root consists of the dried roots of Panaxginseng C A.Meyer, family Araliaceae. Ginseng root is prodnced by cnltivation, principally in Korea, bnt also in China and Far Eastern Russia, the plants taking 4—6 years to reach maturity. Two commercial forms are available white Ginseng, the dried root (frequently with the onter skin peeled off) and... 

The plant Eleutherococcus senticosus is a thorny bush that grows in Siberia and Northern China. The English name of the drug has at least three synonyms, Spring eleutherococcus , Thorny ginseng and Siberian ginseng . 

China and Japan. The biologically active constituents are considered to be a series of saponin glycosides known as ginsenosides, panaxosides or pen tuyui fins Review of constituents J, P. Hov, Comp, Med. East West 5, 123-145 (197 ). Isoln and identification of ginseng saponin glycosides S. 

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