Ginseng biological activity

Ginsenoside Variation Within and Between Ontario Ginseng Landraces Relating Phytochemistry to Biological Activity... 

Li, T. S. C. 1995. Asian and American ginseng, a review. HortTechnology 5 27-34. Sticher, O. 1998. Biochemical, pharmaceutical, and medical perspectives of ginseng. In Lawsib, L. D. and R. Bauer (eds.). Phytomedicines of Europe, Chemistry and Biological Activity. American Chemical Society. Washington, D.C. p. 221-240. Gray, A. I., P. Bhandari, and P. G. Waterman. 1988. New protolimonoids from the fruits of Phelloderdron chinense. Phytochemisty 27 1805-1808. 

Panax ginseng Standardization and Biological Activity Fabio Soldati... 

Ginseng is the root of 2 plants of the same family (oriental, Panax ginseng Siberian, Eleutherococcus senticosis) and contains a range of biologically active substances (ginsenosides). 

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. 

Kubo et al. 74) further investigated these differences in saponin content and found that the saponins of Ginseng roots are localized outside the cambium, i. e., not in the xylem or pith but in the periderm and cortex. They mentioned that the peeling process for the production of White Ginseng results in a remarkable loss of the biologically active saponins and is therefore undesirable from the pharmaceutical point of view. 

Field cultivation of Ginseng is laborious and requires more than four years and special precautions to avoid direct sunshine and infection. Also, because of soil depletion, Ginseng cannot be cultivated on the same plot for at least 10 —15 years. Hence tissue culture of this medicinal plant has been attempted by several groups in Japan, Korea, U.S.A. and China as a means for producing biologically active principles on a manufacturing scale. 

Siberian ginseng Eleutherococcus senticosus) is also frequently found in the market. However, Siberian ginseng is only distantly related to the Panax family and can be considered as an entirely different plant. It contains a different set of active components that leads to distinct biological activities. Therefore, Siberian ginseng is now more commonly known as Eleuthero to avoid confusion. 

The polysaccharides of the ginseng comprised 40 % (by weight) of the root. This class of compound was first isolated and documented in 1966 [20]. Most biologically active carbohydrates in ginseng are acidic polysaccharides, known as ginsan, which have the typical structure of pectin [21, 22]. 

Ginseng triterpene saponins are also known as Ginsenosides. This class of compounds accounts for most of the ginseng s biological activities. Ginsenosides... 

Bae EA, Han MJ, Kim EJ, Kim DH (2004) Transformation of ginseng saponins to ginsenoside Rh2 by acids and human intestinal bacteria and biological activities of their transformants. Arch Pharm Res 27 61-67... 

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