White Ginseng

Chung, S. H., Choi, C. G., and Park, S. H. (2001). Comparisons between white ginseng radix and rootlet for antidiabetic activity and mechanism in KKAy mice. Arch. Pharm. Res. 24, 214-218. 

I. Kitagawa et al. On the constituents of Ginseng radix rubra comparision of the constituents of white ginseng and red ginseng prepared from the same Panax ginseng root, Yakugaku Zasshi., 107, 495, 1987. 

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... 

Red Ginseng contains all the saponins so far isolated from white Ginseng and some others, formed during the steaming process. 

Active constituents in white Ginseng root are mainly the ginsenosides (in DAB and Ph. Helv. VII min. 1.5%), which are saponin glycosides based on two tetracyclic dammarane triterpenes 20 (S)... 

Figure 6.6. HPLC chromatograms of extracts of red and white ginsengs showing the presence of various active ingredients in the complex natural product extracts. Reprinted with permission from reference 18.

In Fig. I, TLC patterns of the saponin fraction and each saponin of Ginseng are illustrated. Up to now, eighteen saponins have been isolated from White Ginseng these are ginsenosides-Ro, -Rai -Ra2, -Ras -Rbj,... 

As Table X shows, lateral roots contain significantly more Ginseng saponins, especially saponins of (26), than commercial White Ginseng which is prepared from 4- or 6 year aged main roots after removal of lateral roots and periderm. The saponin content of 1- or 2 year aged roots is also somewhat higher than that of White Ginseng 18, 69). 

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. 

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