• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.218-232
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• 1986

In this review quality improvement, new products and processing of ginseng are discussed. Ginseng products are generally classified into two types; the dried product without significant change in original shape of fresh ginseng and various processed ginseng products in liquid or solid types prepared by addition of either ginseng extract of ground powder. The dried ginsengs are generally made 4 years old fresh ginseng roots for production of white ginseng and 6 years old ones for red ginseng. The processed ginseng products, such as ginseng drinks, extracts, teas, powders, capsules or tablets are prepared by addition of extract or powder of the ginseng roots which contain relatively high amount of saponin. At present, more than 200 items of 40 types of products are commercially available in over 70 countries in the world, Since consummers preference on the quality of ginseng products as an health food differs with their cultural background of each country, new products development and quality improvement should be investigated with concerning the particular preference of the consummers of various country. It has been generally found that the Orientals has higher product acceptance on strong ginseng flavor while the Westerners generally prefers the products having mild ginseng odor and taste. Recently consummers are asking for supplemented type of ginseng products with various medical herbs and vital materials instead of ginseng alone. Therefore future work on product development should be emphasized to meet the consummers demand and preference.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.173-188
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• 2015

We have conducted a comprehensive literature review regarding the chemical constituents and biological activities of Korean black ginseng(Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer), three to nine times-steamed and dried ginseng, which shows strong black color through Maillared browning reaction. It has been reported that some chemically deglycosylated and transformed saponins are obtained from black ginseng as artifacts produced during intensive steaming. They have been known to be ginsenosides Rg3, Rg4, Rg5, Rg6, Rh1, Rh2, Rh4, Rk1 and Rk3, quite different from those of red ginseng, among which ginsenosides Rg3, Rg5 and Rk1 are considered to be major components. And also, black ginseng has been recently found to demonstrate anticancer, recovery from learning and memory damages, hypontensive, antidiabetic, antiobesitic, tonic and antiatopic activities, together with antioxidative and exercise performance improving activities, exhibiting their effects to be a little bit stronger than those of red ginseng. These findings suggest that black ginsng might play an important role in the development of promising functional foods and drugs from the viewpoint of the chemical composition and biological activities of black ginseng with a distinction from those of white and red ginsengs. In this review, the authors will survey and evaluate further functions of black ginseng with a focus on its physicochemical properties and biological activities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1233-1241
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• 2017

The ginsenoside Rh2 has strong anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic effects. However, the application of ginsenoside Rh2 is restricted because of the small amounts found in Korean white and red ginsengs. To enhance the production of ginsenoside Rh2-MIX (comprising 20(S)-Rh2, 20(R)-Rh2, Rk2, and Rh3 as a 10-g unit) with high specificity, yield, and purity, a new combination of enzymatic conversion using the commercial enzyme Viscozyme L followed by acid treatment was developed. Viscozyme L treatment at pH 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$ was used initially to transform the major ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd into ginsenoside F2, followed by acid-heat treatment using citric acid 2% (w/v) at pH 2.0 and $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. Scale-up production in a 10-L jar fermenter, using 60 g of the protopanaxadiol-type ginsenoside mixture from ginseng roots, produced 24 g of ginsenoside Rh2-MIX. Using 2 g of Rh2-MIX, 131 mg of 20(S)-Rh2, 58 mg of 20(R)-Rh2, 47 mg of Rk2, and 26 mg of Rh3 were obtained at over 98% chromatographic purity. Then, the anti-cancer effect of the four purified ginsenosides was investigated on B16F10, MDA-MB-231, and HuH-7 cell lines. As a result, these four rare ginsenosides markedly inhibited the growth of the cancer cell lines. These results suggested that rare ginsenoside Rh2-MIX could be exploited to prepare an anti-cancer supplement in the functional food and pharmaceutical industries.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.335-350
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• 2014

Compared to the large numbers of studies on the diabetes, hyperlipidemia and cancer therpeutic effects of ginseng, the anti-obese effect and mechanisms of ginsengs have not been studied as much. To determine the effects of ginseng on obesity, 14 keywords (ginseng, ginsenoside, obesity, weight, fat, diet, overeat, appetite, lipid, 3T3-L1, adipocyte, food intake, adipogenesis and lipolysis) were combined in searching a database. Fifty-six articles published from 1983 to 2012 as well as 656 patents registered until Aug $17^{th}$, 2012, were screened for anti-obese effects of ginseng. In the classification of experimental methods, 16 papers on 3T3-L1 cells, 38 papers on animals and three papers on human were reviewed. In terms of obese mechanisms of action, the most commonly used biomarkers were in order of lipid profiles > weight change > blood glucose > adipocytokine. Most ginseng studies on obesity focused on AMPK, $PPAR{\gamma}$, GLUT-4, PI3K and SREBP-1. Korean white ginseng extracts and Re repressed the lipogenesis genes such as PPARc2, SREBP-1c, LPL, FAS and DGAT1. However, ginseng or ginsenosides, PD (Rb1) and PT (Re), showed different or contradictory results. Water and ethanol extraction of ginseng showed contradictory effects on the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, wheras IL-6 was repressed by ethanol extracts and TNF-${\alpha}$ repressed by Re in vitro. Based on the literature, further studies on anti-obese mechanisms of ginseng, such as the inflammation-related obesity or cross signals between the adipocytes and the environments, are needed, instead of more studies on its hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Fresh ginseng is prone to spoilage due to its high moisture content. For long-term storage, most fresh ginsengs are dried to white ginseng (WG) or steamed for hours at high temperature/pressure and dried to form Korean Red ginseng (KRG). They are further processed for ginseng products when subjected to hot water extraction/concentration under pressure. These WG or KRG preparation processes affect ginsenoside compositions and also other ginseng components, probably during treatments like steaming and drying, to form diverse bioactive phospholipids. It is known that ginseng contains high amounts of gintonin lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs). LPAs are simple lipid-derived growth factors in animals and humans and act as exogenous ligands of six GTP-binding-protein coupled LPA receptor subtypes. LPAs play diverse roles ranging from brain development to hair growth in animals and humans. LPA-mediated signaling pathways involve various GTP-binding proteins to regulate downstream pathways like [Ca²⁺]_i transient induction. Recent studies have shown that gintonin exhibits anti-Alzheimer's disease and antiarthritis effects in vitro and in vivo mediated by gintonin LPAs, the active ingredients of gintonin, a ginseng-derived neurotrophin. However, little is known about how gintonin LPAs are formed in high amounts in ginseng compared to other herbs. This review introduces atypical or non-enzymatic pathways under the conversion of ginseng phospholipids into gintonin LPAs during steaming and extraction/concentration processes, which exert beneficial effects against degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and arthritis in animals and humans via LPA receptors.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.43-50
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• 2004

The effects of ginseng extracts on liver damage induced by high energy x-ray were studied. To one group of ICR male mice were given white(50 mg/kg/day for 7 days, orally) and fermenta ginseng extracts(500 mg/kg/day for 7 days, orally)before irrdiation. To another group were irradiated by 5 Gy dose of high energy x-ray. Contrast group were given with saline(0.1 ml). This study also investigated the effect between MDA, protein content and ginseng extracts on hepatic damage. This study measured the level of MDA(malondialdehyde), protein content in liver tissue. Administrating orally white (50 mg/kg/day for 7 days, orally)and fermenta ginseng extracts(500 mg/kg/day), the level of MDA were generally decreased and the inhibition was increased. And the protein contents were identical with control group. After irradiation, the protein contents were increased and MDA(malondialdehyde) was increased. Therefore, ginseng extracts increased antioxidative enzyme activity. And We know that the antioxidatant effect of extracts from white and fermenta ginseng protect radiation damage by direct antioxidant effect involving SOD, CAT, GPX. It was included that ginsengs can protect against the lipid peroxidation in radiation damage through its antioxidatant properties.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.800-806
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• 2012

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced by oxidative stresses which cause various chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Mayer) has been reported to contain various biological activities such as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, neuroprotective, radioprotective, anti-amnestic and anti-aging effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of Panax ginseng, treated with high temperatures and high pressures, on oxidative stress in C2C12 myoblasts and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Oxidative stress was induced in the C2C12 cells through the introduction of $H_2O_2$ (1 mM), and cells were then treated with various ginseng preparations: dried white ginseng (DG), steamed ginseng (SG) and high temperature and high pressure treated ginseng (HG). In addition, 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were treated with various ginsengs for up to 8 days following standard induction of differentiation. Our results show that HG treatment significantly protected oxidative stress in both cell lines and enhanced gene expression of antioxidant enzymes. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the protective effects of ginseng on the oxidative stress of adipocytes and muscle cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.599-604
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to develop the new processing method for ginseng. To investigate the efficacy of the new product (the traditional rice wine steamed-red ginseng: RWS-RGS), antioxidant and anticancer effects of RWS-RGS were examined. The DPPH radical scavenging effect of RWS-RGS extracted with ethanol was increased in dose-dependent manner Especially, A3 ($3^{rd}$ traditional rice wine steamed-red ginsengs) exhibited effective DPPH radical scavenging activity. Nitrite scavenging effect of white ginseng (W.G), red ginseng (R.G) and RWS-RGS ($A1\~A9:\;1^{st}$ traditional rice wine steamed-red $ginseng\~9^{th}$ traditional rice wine steamed-red ginseng) were $25.9{\pm}4.4\%,\;12.9{\pm}1.1\%\;and\;26.2{\pm}0.1\~56.1{\pm}0.6\%$ at pH 1.2, respectively. The antitumor effects of W.G, R.G and RWS-RGS (A9) were examined in Hep3B cancer cells. Their growth inhibition against Hep3B cancer cells showed $19.6{\pm}4.5\%,\;54.5{\pm}6.1\%,\;96.3{\pm}2.4\%$ at 5,000 ppm, respectively. These result suggest that the traditional rice wine steamed ginseng will be useful product with antioxidant and antitumor effect.