• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2010

Objectives: Ginseng has a long history of being used in insomnia treatment and there is some evidence from animal studies of its sleep-enhancing property. From this, it can be assumed that ginseng has sleep-promoting effect in humans. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Korean red ginseng on change of sleep architecture in humans. Methods: A total of 20 healthy young males with regular sleep and wake habits and without any psychiatric nor cognitive problems were selected based on review of sleep questionnaires and sleep diaries they completed followed by an interview with a board-certified psychiatrist. The subjects were randomly assigned to red ginseng or placebo for 2 weeks of trial. The total daily dose of ginseng was 4,500 mg. The polysomnographic recordings were made at baseline and at 2 weeks after. The effects of red ginseng and placebo on sleep were assessed by comparing the changes in polysomnographic variables between the two groups. Results: A total of 15 subjects, 8 from red ginseng group and 7 from placebo group, were included to undergo polysomnographic procedures. The red ginseng group showed tendencies to increase stage 3 sleep (p=0.087) and to decrease stage 2 sleep (p=0.071) from the baseline compared with the placebo group. Conclusion: Korean red ginseng tends to increase deep sleep and decrease shallow sleep. Our result is in line, at least in part, with previous findings that Korean red ginseng increased total and NREM sleep in rats. Further studies with higher ginseng dosage, larger sample size and longer trial duration should be conducted to confirm the sleep stabilizing and balancing effects of Korean red ginseng.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.196-202
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• 1993

A study was performed to compare the anticancer effects of Korean and Chinese red ginseng roots. The whole crude extracts or chloroform, methanol and acetone fractions of the crude extracts were added in the culture medium of three cancer cell lines, a mouse leukemia cell line ($P_{388}$), a human colon carcinoma cell line (HT-29) and a human rectal carcinoma cell line (HRT-18), to screen the growth inhibition effects. The results are summarized as follows : 1. Crude extracts of both Korean and Chinese red ginseng roots inhibited the proliferation of all the three cancer cell lines tested in a dose dependent manner. However, the growth inhibition effects of Korean red ginseng extracts were significantly greater than that of Chinese red ginseng. 2. An acetone fraction showed the greatest antiproliferative effects among the 11'hole crude extracts, chloroform, methanol and acetone fractions of the crude extracts. 3. These results suggest that the active antiproliferative components of the crude extracts are present mostly in the acetone fraction.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.666-675
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• 2019

Background: Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) has been widely used as an herbal medicine to normalize and strengthen body functions. Although many researchers have focused on the biological effects of KRG, more studies on the action mechanism of red ginseng are still needed. Previously, we investigated the proteomic changes of the rat spleen while searching for molecular signatures and the action mechanism of KRG. The proteomic analysis revealed that differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were involved in the increased immune response and phagocytosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological activities of KRG, especially the immune-enhancing response of KRG. Methods: Rats were divided into 4 groups: 0 (control group), 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg administration of KRG powder for 6 weeks, respectively. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation was performed with Q-Exactive LC-MS/MS to compare associated proteins between the groups. The putative DEPs were identified by a current UniProt rat protein database search and by the Gene Ontology annotations. Results: The DEPs appear to increase the innate and acquired immunity as well as immune cell movement. These results suggest that KRG can stimulate immune responses. This analysis refined our targets of interest to include the potential functions of KRG. Furthermore, we validated the potential molecular targets of the functions, representatively LCN2, CRAMP, and HLA-DQB1, by Western blotting. Conclusion: These results may provide molecular signature candidates to elucidate the mechanisms of the immune response by KRG. Here, we demonstrate a strategy of tissue proteomics for the discovery of the molecular function of KRG.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1668-1674
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• 2016

Red ginseng, a steamed and sun-dried ginseng, is a popular health-promoting food in Korea and other Asian countries. We introduced nanofertilizer technology using gold nanoparticles in an effort to develop red ginseng with an elevated level of ginsenosides, the main active compounds of ginseng. Shoots of 6-year-old ginseng plants were fertilized three times with colloidal gold nanoparticle sprays. Red ginseng extract was prepared from the main roots. The concentrations of gold and ginsenosides were measured following gold nanoparticle treatment. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects, mouse peritoneal macrophages of male BALB/c mouse were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide plus interferon-γ in the presence of extracts from red ginseng with or without gold nanoparticle treatment. The content of ginsenosides, such as Rg1, Re, Rf, and Rb1, increased in ginseng treated with gold nanofertilizer whereas the steaming process increased only the levels of Rd and Rg3. The levels of nitric oxide, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and interleukin-6, but not tumor necrosis factor-α, were more suppressed in macrophages treated with extract from gold nanoparticle-treated red ginseng. Our results show that the use of a colloidal gold nanoparticle fertilizer improved the synthesis of ginsenosides in ginseng and enhanced the anti-inflammatory effects of red ginseng. Further research is required to elucidate the causal factors for the gold-induced change in ginsenoside synthesis and to determine the in vivo effect of gold nanoparticle-treated ginseng.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.1096-1104
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• 2017

This study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of the quality of bread containing Red Ginseng Jung Kwa by-product, added in ratios of 0, 10, 20 and 30% of flour. It was found in dough and bread containing red ginseng Jung Kwa by-product that dough and loaf volume, specific loaf volume, baking loss, and pH decreased with an increasing amount of red ginseng Jung Kwa by-product. In addition, loaf weight and hardness were also reduced. In particular, hardness appeared to be 2.18 times higher for bread containing 30% Red Ginseng Jung Kwa by-product as compared to the amounts found in the control. For color, increasing the amount of Red Ginseng Jung Kwa by-product reduced the L value, whereas the a and b values were increased. In the sensory evaluation, the highest overall preference score was observed in the bread containing 20% red ginseng Jung Kwa by-product, whereas the lowest score was found in the control (no red ginseng Jung Kwa by-product added). It was concluded that pan bread containing red ginseng Jung Kwa by-product could be prepared with good acceptability, and that its optimum concentrate was found to be 20% of flour.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 1984

Soft X-ray is useful to identify the quality of fresh ginseng causing the inside cavity or white pan of red ginseng. The portion of low mass density identified by the difference in absorption of soft X-ray showed lower dry matter density and less or no response to iodine test indicating less accumulation or excess consumption of starch. The inside white part of red ginseng absorbed less X-ray than the normal part did. Probability for identification of the inside cavity or white at fresh ginseng was rather high (80-90%) in screen observation than f'3m reading and seemed to be increased further by using the developed screen and with training. The inside white of red ginseng appeared to be due to starch deficiency. Dry matter density appeared to be better than fresh weight density for the quality criterion.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.280-282
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• 1997

A genuine dammarane-glycoside, named as ginsenoside $ Rs_3$, was isolated from the MeOH extracts of Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) through repeated silica gel column chromatographies and its chemical structure was determined as (20S)-protopanaxadiol $3-O-[6^{11}-O-acetyl-{\beta}-D-glucopyranosyl (1{\rightarrow2)-{\beta}-D-$glucopyranoside on the basis of several spectral and physical evidences including HMBC and FAB-MS.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2001

It was reported that Red ginseng contains specific ginsenoside-Rg$_2$,-Rg$_3$,-Rh$_1$and -Rh$_2$, which show various pharmacological effects. However, production of these specific ginsenosides from Red ginseng is not commercially applicable because of high cost of the raw material, roots. This work was carried out to examine the production of Red ginseng specific ginsenosides from Agrobacterium-transformed hairy roots. Hairy roots were induced from 3 year-old root segment of Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) after infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes A4. Among many lines of hairybroots, KGHR-8A was selected. Steam heat treatment of hairy roots was resulted in the changes of ginsenoside composition. Eleven ginsenosides were detected in heat-treated hairy roots but eight in freeze dried hairy roots. In heat treated hairy root, content of ginsenoside-Rb$_1$,Rb$_2$,Rc, Rd, Re, Rf, and Rg$_1$were decreased compared to those of freeze dried hairy roots. However, heat treatment strongly enhanced the amount of Red ginseng specific ginsenogides (ginsenoside-Rg$_2$,-Rg$_3$,-Rh$_1$and -Rh$_2$). Amounts of ginsenoside-Rg$_3$,-Rh$_1$and -Rh$_2$ in heat-treated hairy roots were 2.58, 3.62 and 1.08 mg/g dry wt, respectively, but these were detected as trace amount in hairy roots without heat treatment. Optimum condition of heat treatment for the production of Red ginseng specific ginsenoside was 2 h at 105$^{\circ}C$. This result represents that Red ginseng specific ginsenoside can be producted from hairy roots by steam heat treatment.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.361-369
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• 2017

Background: The chemical constituents of Panax ginseng are changed by processing methods such as steaming or sun drying. In the present study, the chemical change of Panax ginseng induced by steaming was monitored in situ. Methods: Samples were separated from the same ginseng root by incision during the steaming process, for in situ monitoring. Sampling was sequentially performed in three stages; FG (fresh ginseng) ${\rightarrow}$ SG (steamed ginseng) ${\rightarrow}$ RG (red ginseng) and 60 samples were prepared and freeze dried. The samples were then analyzed to determine 43 constituents among three stages of P. ginseng. Results: The results showed that six malonyl-ginsenoside (Rg1, Rb1, Rb3, Rc, Rd, Rb2) and 15 amino acids were decreased in concentration during the steaming process. In contrast, ginsenoside-Rh1, 20(S)-Rg2, 20(S, R)-Rg3 and Maillard reaction product such as AF (arginine-fructose), AFG (arginine-fructose-glucose), and maltol were newly generated or their concentrations were increased. Conclusion: This study elucidates the dynamic changes in the chemical components of P. ginseng when the steaming process was induced. These results are thought to be helpful for quality control and standardization of herbal drugs using P. ginseng and they also provide a scientific basis for pharmacological research of processed ginseng (Red ginseng).

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2013

Ginseng is a well-known traditional medicine used in Asian countries for several thousand years, and it is currently applied to medicine, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements due to its many healing and energygiving properties. It is well demonstrated that ginsenosides, the main ingredient of ginseng, produce a variety of pharmacological and therapeutic effects on central nerve system (CNS) disorders, cardiovascular disease, endocrine secretions, aging, and immune function. Korean red ginseng extract is a dietary supplement containing ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside Rg1 extracted from Panax ginseng. While the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of the extract have been well established, its toxicological properties remain obscure. Thus, four-week oral toxicity studies in rats were conducted to investigate whether Korean red ginseng extract could have a potential toxicity to humans. The test article was administered once daily by oral gavage to four groups of male and female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats at dose levels of 0, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg/day for four weeks. Neither deaths nor clinical symptoms were observed in any group during the experiment. Furthermore, no abnormalities in body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross findings, organ weights, or histopathology were revealed related to the administration of the test article in either sex of any dosed group. Therefore, a target organ was not determined in this study, and the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of Korean red ginseng extract was established to be 2,000 mg/kg/day.