Current Studies on Browning Reaction Products and Acidic Polysaccharide in Korean Red Ginseng

In the browning reaction of Korean ginseng, it appears that enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning reaction occurred In initial stage of steaming fresh ginseng at low temperature, and then non-enzymatic browning reaction followed in the drying period after steaming. Browning reaction of red ginseng occurred between $60{\sim}90$ min of steaming at $100^{\circ}C$, and browning pigments of red ginseng were mostly water soluble substances. The structural characteristics of water soluble browning reaction products(WS-BRPs) isolated from Korean red ginseng were showed the presence of hydroxyl, amide carbonyl and aliphatic methane groups. From sugar analysis it was identified that L and S-1, melanoidins isolated from red ginseng, contained two kinds of sugars, glucose and xylose, and the other melanoidin S-2 contained the previous and fructose. In order to find out pertinent methods for the acceleration of browning during ginseng processing, various treatment were made on fresh ginseng with sugars, amino acids and inorganic nitrogenous compounds and the extent of browning was measured. Among sugar tested, maltose resulted in the greatest acceleration of browning followed in decreasing order by glucose and lactose, whereas pentoses, fructose, sucrose and raffinose had negligible effect. A marked browning occurred in ginseng treated with basic amino acids, while the extent of browning was not greatly increased when ginseng was treated with aliphatic amino acids, hydroxyl amino acids, or acidic amino acids. The brown color intensity gradually increased with an increase of glucose concentration far up to 0.5M. L, S-1, and S-2 were found to have an ability to donate hydrogen to DPPH, and also they had anti-oxidative activity in the experiments of hydrogen peroxide scavenging, inhibitory activity in the formation of MDA from linoleic acid, auto oxidation of ok-brain homogenates, lipid peroxidation by the enzymatic and non-enzymatic system in liver microsome fraction, and mitochondrial fraction etc. The amounts of acidic polysaccharide(AP) in red ginseng were higher than those of wild and cultured Panax quinquefolius, Panax notoginseng as well as white ginseng (Panax ginseng). In white ginseng, the AP amount is no difference in root ages or sizes, also, the AP amount of ginseng body was similar to that of rhizome, but was higher than that of leaf and epidermis. Addition of red ginseng acidic polysaccharide(RGAP) increased production of nitric oxide(NO) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$ in the rodent macrophage cultures, and treatment of RGAP in vivo stimulated tumoricidal activities of natural killer (NK) cells.

홍삼에 함유된 갈변물질 및 산성다당체에 대한 연구현황

우리나라의 건강기능식품법에서는 인삼 또는 홍삼의 기능성이 자양강장, 면역증진 및 원기회복으로 한정되어 있다. 지금까지 홍삼에 함유된 갈변물질과 산성다당체에 대해서 많은 연구가 수행되었는데, 갈변물질은 항산화 활성과 면역증진기능, 그리고 산성다당체는 소화기관암의 증상개선, 면역기능 증진, 혈압개선, 혈액응고방지, 조혈기능, 알콜해독(간기능 회복, 고지혈 개선 등) 등의 효능이 우수하다고 보고되었다. 이러한 관점에서 현재 인삼과 홍삼의 3가지 기능성외에 항산화활성이라든지 그 외 더 많은 기능성을 추가할 필요성이 있으며, 또 홍삼에 함유되어 있는 활성성분을 적극적으로 이용하여 기준규격형제품은 물론이고 질병위험감소에 대해서 기능성을 표시할 수 있는 개별인정형 제품이나 나아가서는 일반 또는 전문의약품으로 개발하여 홍삼의 이용 가능성을 극대화시키고 국제적으로 경쟁력이 있는 한국인삼으로 그 위상을 제고시켜야 한다고 생각한다.