• 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.

• Journal of Evidence-Based Herbal Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.33-38
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• 2009

Korean Ginseng has been recognized as a representative special product in Korea and over the world for a long time, since its quality is known to be superior to Chinese, North American Ginseng. However, the export volume of Korean Ginseng products has been diminishing since 1990 because the imports of low price Chinese Ginseng and the effective marketing policy on North American Ginseng. Therefore, this study is to suggest the competitiveness reinforcement strategies through analyses of the present state and transition of the international competitiveness in Korean Ginseng. This study conducts the comparative analysis of international competitive power of ginseng between Korea and other exporting countries. There are many kinds of saponin that are competitive from a quality profile. However, price competitiveness was very low. According to the result of analysis, this study suggest the competitiveness reinforcement strategies of Korean Ginseng as follows ; First, it is necessary to establish the ginseng plan for high-quality environmentally-friendly production. Second, Korean Ginseng producer should develop various consumer-oriented products according to purchasing power and taste of target market consumers. Third, export strategies must be established by finding out every importing country’s characteristics with regard its import, circulation and consumption of the Korean Ginseng. The use of this study is to forecast useful information to concerned organization for the future policies to the ginseng products in the international market.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.379-385
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• 2017

In this study, white ginseng was used as the raw material, which was fermented with Paecilomyces hepiali through solid culture medium, to produce ginsenosides with modified chemical composition. The characteristic chemical markers of the products thus produced were investigated using rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-QTOF-MS). Chemical profiling data were obtained, which were then subjected to multivariate statistical analysis for the systematic comparison of active ingredients in white ginseng and fermented ginseng to understand the beneficial properties of ginsenoside metabolites. In addition, the effects of these components on biological activity were investigated to understand the improvements in the phagocytic function of macrophages in zebrafish. According to the established RRLC-QTOF-MS chemical profiling, the contents in ginsenosides of high molecular weight, especially malonylated protopanaxadiol ginsenosides, were slightly reduced due to the fermentation, which were hydrolyzed into rare and minor ginsenosides. Moreover, the facilitation of macrophage phagocytic function in zebrafish following treatment with different ginseng extracts confirmed that the fermented ginseng is superior to white ginseng. Our results prove that there is a profound change in chemical constituents of ginsenosides during the fermentation process, which has a significant effect on the biological activity of these compounds.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.398-404
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• 2014

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the yield of ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer). The objective of this study was to identify bio-marker, which is early responsive in salt stress in ginseng, using proteomics approach. Ginseng plants were exposed to 5 ds/m salt concentration and samples were harvested at 0, 6, 12 and 18 hours after exposure. Total proteins were extracted from ginseng leaves treated with salt stress using Mg/NP-40 buffer and were separated on high resolution 2-DE. Approximately $1003{\pm}240$ (0 h), $992{\pm}166$ (6 h), $1051{\pm}51$ (12 h) and $990{\pm}160$ (18 h) spots were detected in colloidal CBB stained 2D maps. Among these, 8 spots were differentially expressed and were identified by using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS or/and LC-MS/MS. Ethylene response sensor-1 (spot GL 1), nucleotide binding protein (spot GL 2), carbonic anhydrase-1 (spot GL 3), thylakoid lumenal 17.9 kDa protein (spot GL 4) and Chlorophyll a/b binding protein (spot GL 5, GL 6) were up-regulated at the 12 and 18 hour, while RuBisCO activase B (spot GL 7) and DNA helicase (spot GL 8) were down-regulated. Thus, we suggest that these proteins might participate in the early response to salt stress in ginseng leaves.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.345-353
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• 2015

Background: Ginseng is a semishade perennial plant cultivated in sloping, sun-shaded areas in Korea. Recently, owing to air-environmental stress and various fungal diseases, greenhouse cultivation has been suggested as an alternative. However, the optimal light transmission rate (LTR) in the greenhouse has not been established. Methods: The effect of LTR on photosynthesis rate, growth, and ginsenoside content of ginseng was examined by growing ginseng at the greenhouse under 6%, 9%, 13%, and 17% of LTR. Results: The light-saturated net photosynthesis rate ($A_{sat}$) and stomatal conductance ($g_{s}$) of ginseng increased until the LTR reached 17% in the early stage of growth, whereas they dropped sharply owing to excessive leaf chlorosis at 17% LTR during the hottest summer period in August. Overall, 6-17% of LTR had no effect on the aerial part of plant length or diameter, whereas 17% and 13% of LRT induced the largest leaf area and the highest root weight, respectively. The total ginsenoside content of the ginseng leaves increased as the LTR increased, and the overall content of protopanaxatriol line ginsenosides was higher than that of protopanaxadiol line ginsenosides. The ginsenoside content of the ginseng roots also increased as the LTR increased, and the total ginsenoside content of ginseng grown at 17% LTR increased by 49.7% and 68.3% more than the ginseng grown at 6% LTR in August and final harvest, respectively. Conclusion: These results indicate that 13-17% of LTR should be recommended for greenhouse cultivation of ginseng.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.56-61
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• 1995

Molecular cloning and restriction mapping on ATPase $\alpha$-subunit gene (atpA) were carried out to obtain genomic information concerned with the gene structure and organization in Korean ginseng mitochondria. Two different clones containing the homologous sequence of atpA gene were selected from SalI and PstI libraries of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Korean ginseng. The sizes of mtDNA fragments inserted in SalI and PstI clones were 3.4 kb and 13 kb, respectively. Southern blot analysis with [$^{32}P$] labelled Oenothera atPA gene probe showed that atpA gene sequence was located in 2.0 kb XkaI fragment in PstI clone and in 1.7 kb XbaI fragment in SalI clone. A partial sequening ascertained that the SalI clone included about 1.2 kb fragment from SalI restriction site to C-terminal sequence of this gene but about 0.3 kb N-terminal sequence of open reading frame was abscent. The PstI fragment was enough large to cover the full sequence of atpA gene. The same restriction pattern of the overlapped region suggests that both clones include the same fragment of atiA locus. Data of Southern blot analysis and partial nucleotide sequencing suggested that mtDNA of Korean ginseng has a single copy of atpA gene. Key words ATPase a-subunit, mitochondrial DNA, Panax ginseng.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 1996

Oxygen free radicals are highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons, which are produced with in aerobic cells in the course of normal metabolic events. Normally, aerobic cells are protected from the damage of free radicals by antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, GSH S-transferase and GSH reductase which scabvenge free radicals as well as nonenzymatic antioxidants such as ceruloplasmin, albumin and nontioxidants in order to elucidate antioxidative mechanisms of red ginseng. The treatment with total saponin of red ginseng significantly devreased the contents of malondialdehyde and total free radicals in the liver. On the other hand, total saponin of red ginseng significantly increased the activities of SOD, catalase and GSH reductase and nonprotein-SH level. These results suggest that total saponin of red ginseng exerts an antioxidative effect by increasing endogenous antioxidants.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.182-189
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• 2010

To develop a new functional kimchi with cognition-enhancing properties, black Panax ginseng extract (0.5-5%, w/w) was added to a baechu kimchi preparation and the mixture stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 30 days. Compared with control kimchi, the L values of ginseng-treated material were significantly decreased, but the a and b values were increased. The hardness value of ginseng-treated kimchi was significantly higher than that of control material from the $20^{th}$ day of storage. The edibility period of baechu kimchi treated with ginseng was prolonged by approximately 15 days compared with control kimchi. This resulted from decreases in the numbers of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts during the final stages of fermentation in ginseng-treated material. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity by ginseng-treated kimchi was 2-fold higher than that of control material. A strong ginseng flavor and a bitter taste were evident in kimchi treated with 5% (w/w) ginseng, and sensory quality was thus decreased compared with control material. It was concluded that an appropriate concentration of black ginseng extract was 3% (w/w) in preparation of kimchi with a cognition-enhancing effect.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2019

Background: Ginseng is believed to have antitumor activity. Autophagy is largely a prosurvival cellular process that is activated in response to cellular stressors, including cytotoxic chemotherapy; therefore, agents that inhibit autophagy can be used as chemosensitizers in cancer treatment. We examined the ability of Korean Red Ginseng extract (RGE) to prevent autophagic flux and to make hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells become more sensitive to doxorubicin. Methods: The cytotoxic effects of total RGE or its saponin fraction (RGS) on HCC cells were examined by the lactate dehydrogenase assay in a dose- or time-dependent manner. The effect of RGE or RGS on autophagy was measured by analyzing microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain (LC)3-II expression and LC3 puncta formation in HCC cells. Late-stage autophagy suppression was tested using tandem-labeled green fluorescent protein (GFP)-monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP)-LC3. Results: RGE markedly increased the amount of LC3-II, but green and red puncta in tandem-labeled GFP-mRFP-LC3 remained colocalized over time, indicating that RGE inhibited autophagy at a late stage. Suppression of autophagy through knockdown of key ATG genes increased doxorubicin-induced cell death, suggesting that autophagy induced by doxorubicin has a protective function in HCC. Finally, RGE and RGS markedly sensitized HCC cells, (but not normal liver cells), to doxorubicin-induced cell death. Conclusion: Our data suggest that inhibition of late-stage autophagic flux by RGE is important for its potentiation of doxorubicin-induced cancer cell death. Therapy combining RGE with doxorubicin could serve as an effective strategy in the treatment of HCC.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.573-582
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• 2013

This study was done in order to investigate the bioconversion of ginsenoside, as well as the quality characteristics of fermented ginseng, by using lactic acid bacteria. Quality characteristics such as the thin layer chromatography(TLC) pattern, ginsenosides, total phenolic content, electron donating ability, and total sugar of fermenting ginseng and red ginseng were analyzed. The ginsenoside Rg2r, Rh2s and Rh2r of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng for 65 hours at a temperature of $37^{\circ}C$ were not detected. The ginsenoside Rg1 and Re contents have decreased, while the Rh1, Rg2s, Rd, Rg3r, and Rg3s have increased due to fermentation. The ginsenoside Rg3 of the fermented red ginseng has increased and the contents were $114.83{\sim}131.68{\mu}g/mL$ (control $104.56{\mu}g/mL$). The total phenolic content and electron donating ability of the red ginseng have totally decreased after 7 days of fermentation. The total phenolic contents of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng with different lactic acid bacteria did not show any tendency as different strains. The electron donating ability of the fermented ginseng has increased; however, the electron donating ability of the red ginseng has decreased. The total sugars of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng with different lactic acid bacteria have also decreased.