Influence of Panax Ginseng upon Water and Food Intake in Rats

인삼이 흰쥐의 물 및 먹이 섭취에 미치는 영향

To see if the Panax Ginseng has any influence upon the amount of water and food intake, an experiment was carried out using 30 male rats. The animals were divided equally into the ginseng and the saline groups. For 5 days, animals belonging to the ginseng group received every day 0.5 ml/100g body weight of ginseng extract (4 mg of ginseng alcohol extract in 1 ml of saline), while animals belonging to the saline group received the same amount of saline. After the last medication on the 5th day, each animal was accommodated in a cage which was provided with a food well and a water supplier made of glass tube bent $30^{\circ}$ at the tip. The amounts of water and food consumed in the daytime (from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and at night (from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. next morning) were measured for 2 days. The ginseng group tended to consume water and food slightly more than the saline group did. However, the difference between the 2 group was far from reaching significancy. The influence of Panax Ginseng upon water and food intake was not evident.