• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2022

Ginseng is an international herb that has been used for thousands of years. Two species most commonly applied and investigated in the ginseng family are Asian ginseng and American ginseng. The number of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) has conspicuously increased, driven by the rapid development of ginseng. However, the reporting of RCT items of ginseng is deficient because of different trial designs and reporting formats, which is a challenge for researchers who are looking for the data with high quality and reliability. Thus, this study focused on providing an extensive analysis of these two species and examined the quality of the RCTs, based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline. Ninety-one RCTs conducted from 1980 to 2019 that were related to Asian ginseng and American ginseng used singly met our inclusion criteria. We found that the reporting quality of the two species has improved during the past 40 years. Publication date and sample size were significantly associated with the reporting quality. Rigorous RCTs designed for the species of ginseng are warranted, which can shed light on product research and development of ginseng in the future.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2014

Background: Research has been conducted with regard to the development of methods for improving the pharmaceutical effect of ginseng by conversion of ginsenosides, which are the major active components of ginseng, via high temperature or high-pressure processing. Methods: The present study sought to investigate the anticancer effect of heat-processed American ginseng (HAG) in human gastric cancer AGS cells with a focus on assessing the role of apoptosis as an important mechanistic element in its anticancer actions. Results and Conclusion: HAG significantly reduced the cancer cell proliferation, and the contents of ginsenosides Rb1 and Re were markedly decreased, whereas the peaks of less-polar ginsenosides [20(S,R)-Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5] were newly detected. Based on the activity-guided fractionation of HAG, ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 played a key role in inducing apoptosis in human gastric cancer AGS cells, and it was generated mainly from ginsenoside Rb1. Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 induced apoptosis through activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9, as well as regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that heat-processing serves as an increase in the antitumor activity of American ginseng in AGS cells, and ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3, the active component produced by heat-processing, induces the activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9, which contributes to the apoptotic cell death.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to analyze the electrophoretic patterns of soluble proteins from ginseng roots and to compare the protein patterns from Korean ginseng and American quinquefolium. The size difference was found in the major protein bands of a molecular weight of about 27,000 between Korean ginseng and American quinquefolium. The protein band of a molecular weight of 22,000 showed a quantitative difference in its amount. The major 27 K proteins appeared to form a complex heterodimer of 66,000 and to have internal bisulfide bonds, from band shifting studies under non-denaturing conditions. Three peaks appeared when the protein extract from root homogenates was purified using gel filtration and DEAE ion exchange chromatography. The examination of physiological activity and further purification of these fractions are underway.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.91-95
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• 1998

The distribution of phenolic components of Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng KG) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium, AG) were compared by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Silica gel TLC gave 3~4 spots, while $NH_2$ HPTLC 5~6 spots, which were colored by both $FeCl_3$/$K_3Fe(CN)_6$ and Folin-Ciocalteu. The distribution of phenolic components was quite different between KG and AG. Especially, a polyphenol (m.w. 578), which had been isolated from KG by the author, was not found in AG. This result suggests that the polyphenol could be used as an index compound for the differentiation of KG from AG.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 1988

A field experiment was conducted in the arid interior of British Columbia, Canada to assess the seasonal soil temperature and moisture regimes in an American ginseng garden. As a consequence of the man-modified microclimate (elevated shade canopy and surface covering of mulch), the growing environment of the crop was fundamentally altered when compared to adjacent agricultural growing environments. In the ginseng garden, soil temperatures were found to remain low throughout the growing season whereas soil moisture remained high when compared with the outside garden environment. These results indicate that even in the hot, arid environment of the interior of British Columbia, the growing of ginseng is undertaken in sub-optimal conditions for the major part of the growing season. This poses challenges for the producers of the crop to modify the architecture of the gardens to enhance the soil regime without creating a deleterious aerial environment.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-290
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• 2012

The metabolic profiles of Panax quinquefolius and its associated therapeutic values are critically affected by the repetitious steaming times. The times-dependent steaming effect of P. quinquefolius is not well-characterized and there is also no official guideline on its times of steaming. In this paper, a UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method was developed for the qualitative profiling of multi-parametric metabolic changes of raw P. quinquefolius during the repetitious steaming process. Our method was successful in discriminating the differentially multi-steamed herbs. Meantime, the repetitious steaming-inducing chemical transformations in the preparation of black American ginseng (American ginseng that was subjected to 9 cycles of steaming treatment) were evaluated by this UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS based chemical profiling method. Under the optimized UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS conditions, 29 major ginsenosides were unambiguously identified and/or tentatively assigned in both raw and multi-steamed P. quinquefolius within 19 min, among them 18 ginsenosides were detected to be newly generated during the preparatory process of black American ginseng. The mechanisms involved were further deduced to be hydrolysis, dehydration, decarboxylation and addition reactions of the original ginsenosides in raw P. quinquefolius through analyzing mimic 9 cycles of steaming extracts of 14 pure reference ginsenosides. Our novel steaming times-dependent metabolic profiling approach represents the paradigm shift in the global quality control of multi-steamed P. quinquefolius products.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2014

Field and nutrient cultures of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) were used to establish foliar symptoms related to boron (B) concentration in leaves and soils, and to evaluate radish as a time-saving model system for B nutrition. Application of excess B, 8 kg/ha versus the recommended 1.5 kg/ha, to field plantings of 2-, 3-, and 4-yr-old American ginseng plants just prior to crop emergence caused, within 4 wk after crop emergence, leaf symptoms of chlorosis followed by necrosis starting at the tips and progressing along the margins. The B concentration in leaves of 2-4-yr-old plants receiving 1.5 kg/ha Bwas $30{\mu}g/g$ dry mass compared to $460{\mu}g/g$ dry mass where 8 kg/ha B was applied. Similarly, B concentration in soils receiving the lower B concentration was 1.8 mg/g dry mass and $2.2-2.8{\mu}g/g$ dry mass where the higher B concentration was applied. Application of 8 kg/ha B reduced the dry yield of 3rd-yr roots by 20% from 2745 kg/ha to 2196 kg/ha and 4th-yr roots by 26% from 4130 kg/ha to 3071 kg/ha. Ginseng seedlings and radish were grown under greenhouse conditions in nutrient culture with four B concentrations ranging from 0 mg/L to 10 mg/L. At 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L ginseng and radish developed typical leaf B toxicity symptoms similar to those described above for field-grown plants. Increasing B in the nutrient solution from 0.5 mg/L to 10 mg/L decreased, in a linear fashion, the root and leaf dry mass of ginseng, but not radish. Given the many similarities of ginseng and radish to B utilization, radish might be used as a timesaving model system for the study of B, and other micronutrients, in the slow-growing perennial ginseng.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 1988

Photosynthesis rates of ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) leaves were measured in a controlled environment at $20^{\circ}C$ under the different monochromatic light such as white(W), red(R) and blue(B) to obtain basic information applicable to the colored shading material for the ginseng growth. Photosynthesis rate relative to white(W) light was generally higher in R and lower in B comparing to white(W) light. This difference was negligible at the close to the light-saturation point, whereas the difference among the monochromatic light was extended with decreasing the irradiant. It suggests that red is good in color of shading material for growth of American ginseng.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.18-21
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• 1998

Comparative cytotoxic activities of petroleum ether soluble fraction from various ginsengs of Panax species were evaluated using A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) and SK-OV-3(human ovary carcinoma) cancer cell lines. Korean red ginseng, Korean white ginseng, American ginseng and Canadian ginseng were found to show more potent cytotoxicitles on A549 and SK-OV-3 cell lines than Chinese red ginseng, Japanese red ginseng and Sanchi ginseng. It is noteworthy that especially, red ginseng prepared from the root of Panax ginseng cultivated in Korea shows relatively stronger cytotoxic activities than those cultivated in China and Japan.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.78-81
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• 2006

Freshly harvested, immature (green) seeds of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) were stratified for up to 3 years in plastic pails in controlled environment rooms at $5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for 9 months and then $21{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for 3 months (Trt. 1, regular stratification), or continuously at $-2{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ (Trt. 2), or continuously at $3{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ (Trt. 3). During stratification at -2 and $3^{\circ}C$ embryos did not grow. On seeding in the field embryos grew rapidly and resultant seedlings were comparable to those from regularly stratified seed. Seedling emergence rate was acceptable at the industry expected rate of 68% after one year of storage, but not after two years storage when it declined to 17.5%. Seed rot was so severe in year 3 that no planting was carried out. Seedling and second year growth were similar at the three stratification temperatures; most importantly, root dry weight (economic yield) was similar. Low-temperature storage of freshly-harvested North American ginseng seed is an acceptable method for short-term retention of propagating material.