* Please Note: Traditional Use information is provided as a courtesy only. Although we have done our best to review the validity of these uses and we continue to revise this information as new data emerges, the traditional uses indicated on this page for this product may be wrong. This information is based on Traditional and Folklore Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA and is not necessarily based on scientific evidence from any source. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
The mysterious powers of ginseng are shrouded in folk fact and fiction. "The root of life" is believed to invigorate, rejuvenate, and revitalize the system. Over the past thirty years, Russian, Japanese, and, most recently, American research suggests a scientific basis for the use of ginseng as a general body tonic.
Ginseng has been shown to increase work efficiency by raising capacity for mental and physical performance and allowing for better adaptation to high and low temperatures. Ginseng increases tolerance to stress. Its effect is termed adaptogenic. The life of X-ray-irradiated mice has been prolonged with ginseng. It also counteracts the toxic effects of chemicals such as choloroform and amphetamines.
In Chinese medicine, ginseng is combined with other herbs to treat a wide range of illnesses. Future research may provide important new applications for ginseng in disease prevention and cures.
Saponin glycosides are responsible for ginseng's biological activity. They are called panaxosides by Russian researchers and ginsenosides by the Japanese. Eleven of these substances are found in Oriental ginseng Panax ginseng. American ginseng primarily contains the Rb1 and Re ginsenosides.
General Herb Information
There are about nine species in the genus Panax, all but two of which are native to eastern Asia. American ginseng is a perennial herb native to eastern North America, favoring north- or east-facing slopes in a well-drained humus-rich soil. It grows to a height of fifteen inches. One-or two-year-old plants - "Strawberry ginseng" -produce three strawberry leaf-like leaflets. Two- to three-year-old plants often develop characteristic five-fingered, palm-shaped leaves. Older plants develop two to five prongs with five leaflets on each prong. The leaflets are oblong, coarsely toothed, and two to six inches long. The flowers are tiny and greenish-white appearing in June to July. Bright red two-seeded berries ripen in late July to October. The white fleshy tap root often develops a human-like form. The plant dies back to the ground every fall leaving a scar on the "neck" at the top of each root.
The age of the root is determined by counting the scars. Ginseng is not the easiest herb to cultivate. Propagation is by seeds which may take six to twenty months to germinate. It should be stratified before planting. Pre-stratified seeds are available from most seed sources. One- two- or three-year-old roots can be purchased for planting, but the buyer risks introducing diseased stock into his or her beds. Freshly harvested seed thathas not been stratified can be planted one-half inch deep, six inches apart, in well-prepared beds in September. Seed may germinate the next spring or the following year. If seed is purchased from a large grower, it is a good idea to disinfect the seeds by soaking them in a mix of nine parts water and one part chlorine bleach for five to ten minutes. This will kill disease organisms. Stratified seed may be planted in the spring. Fifty to one hundred pounds of seed will sow an acre.
A light-textured woods loam, high in humus, is suitable for ginseng culture. Heavy clay or sandy soils will not produce healthy plants. Maintain a pH of around 5 to 6. Shade of 70 percent or more is required for ginseng and can be provided by natural tree canopies, shade screen, or a lath shed. The design of the shade structure should allow rain to reach the beds. Ginseng grown under a natural tree canopy is, of course, the least expensive. Beds can be double-dug and provided with blood meal, bone meal, and leaf mold as soil amenders. If these substances unbalance the pH, use a light application of lime or wood ashes. After plants die back in autumn, they should be mulched with a four- to six-inch layer of straw or leaves.
Plants are subject to attack by leaf blight, insects, root rot, and rodents, who consider the roots a delectable treat. Preventative control measures for the organic grower are the most effective. To avoid diseased stock, gather wild seeds when possible. Remove and destroy all affected plants in beds. Vertical metal barriers placed around the bed's perimeters can control rodent attacks. Half of a twenty-four-inch sheet of aluminum should be below the soil's surface. Commercial ginseng growers use herbicides such as Phytar 560 and Paraquat. Diathaine, M-45, Captan 50, Malathion, and Sevin are among the pesticides employed in ginseng production.
The roots are harvested in the fall of the fifth or sixth year after planting from seed. Carefully dig the roots with a garden spade, taking care to keep the whole root intact. Remove loose soil by spraying with a hose, then spread the roots on racks to dry. Stir as needed to provide adequate air circulation. Drying time varies depending upon weather conditions and size of roots. Air curing may take as long as a month. Harvest seeds after berries ripen.
Panax Ginseng
Panax quinquefolius L.
The genus name Panax comes from the Greek pas, all, and akos, cure; or panakes, all healing, referring to the medicinal properties of the ginseng plant. Panacea was a goddess in Greek mythology who could heal all diseases, and who found a remedy for maintaining good health. Frequently one sees the scientific name spelled "Panax quinquefolium" in the belief that the genus name Panax is neuter, and so requires the second word of the binomial to use the Latin suffix "um." However, the name Panax is masculine in both Greek and Latin, and the Code of Botanical Nomenclature requires that the masculine form be used, i.e., quinquefolius.
English Common Names
American ginseng, Canadian ginseng, five-fingers, occidental ginseng, sang, seng.
The name ginseng, first applied to Asian ginseng (P. ginseng), is derived from the Chinese ren-shen (in standard Chinese piryin) [also rendered jensheng, jin-hsien, shen seng, and shinseng]. This is usually translated as "man-shaped root" but may be better rendered as "man-essence;" the name originates from (a) the fancied resemblance of ginseng root to the human form, or (b) from the belief that the root represents the essence of the earth crystallized in a human form.
French Common Names
Ginseng, ginseng a cinq folioles.
Morphology
The unbranched, erect stems of American ginseng arise from a short rhizome and an elongated tuberous root. The root is 1-3 cm thick and 5-10 cm long, spindle-shaped, and often forked. The roots of older plants become branched and acquire prominent circular wrinides; they are slightly aromatic, and have a sweetish, somewhat bitter taste. Mature plants are 20-70 cm tall, with a whorl of three or four long-stalked, palmate leaves, each generally with five large leaflets, of which the upper three are larger than the lower two. In midsummer, 6-20 small, yellowish flowers are borne on a short stalk arising from the centre of leaf attachment at the top of the stem. Fruits begin to ripen at the end of July and mature to a deep red color. Reproduction is entirely by seed. Seeds are produced by plants more than 3 years old with up Ginseng to 150 being generated by a single plant. However, commonly, only a few seeds are matured by wild plants. Once a seedling of American ginseng has become established, its life expectancy is over 20 years, and some plants have been reported to live to at least 60 years of age. The age of a plant can be estimated by the number of stem scars on the short rhizome on top of the root and by leaf number. Wild plants with two palmate leaves ("prongs"), are generally over 3 years old, those with three prongs are mostly more than 6 years old and those with four prongs are mostly over 13 years old.
Asian ginseng is extremely similar in appearance to American ginseng, but the former is reported to have tapered leaflet bases while they are rounded in the latter. However, it has proven difficult to identify many plants using this character, and certain other recommended discriminating characters also appear to be quite variable.
Classification and Geography
Panax is a genus of perennial herbs, with two species in eastern North America and perhaps 5-10 species in Asia. Best known is the eastern Asian species P. ginseng C.A. Mey., known as ginseng, Asian ginseng, Oriental ginseng, Chinese ginseng and Korean ginseng, which is the major source of ginseng of commerce. American ginseng occurs from southern Ontario and southwestern Quebec south to Oklahoma, Louisiana, and northern Florida.
In North America, two species could be confused with American ginseng. Dwarf ginseng (P. trifolius L.) is a smaller species with stemless leaflets, which does not appear to have the properties of American ginseng, and is not harvested or cultivated. It is nevertheless a very unusual plant being one of the 0.1% of flowering plants that can change their gender from male to female and vice versa. Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis L.) and other species of Aralia are also superficially similar, but have pinnate instead of palmate leaves.
Ecology
Ginseng occurs in colonies of a few to hundreds of plants in rich, shady, deciduous forests, in deep leaf litter. Sites are frequently on northern or northeastern cool rocky slopes, commonly in areas with limestone outcrops in damp but well-drained soils. American ginseng thrives in 75% shade, and even shadier locations in the southern limits of its range. Clearcutting of virgin forests and over-harvesting have drastically reduced the size of wild populations.
Although American ginseng cannot change its sex like dwarf ginseng, it can modify its gender through varying ratios of flowers with one or two ovules. In general, the larger and older plants that are able to mature more seeds can be viewed as more female. The flowers are adapted to cross-pollination through different maturation times of the male and female parts of the flower. Soon after the petals separate, the anthers mature and release pollen, prior to the stigmatic lobes separating and becoming receptive. Both wild and cultivated plants of American ginseng are visited by a wide variety of insects, but a few species of small bees are the most important pollinators. The attractive fruits are probably dispersed by animals.
Medicinal Uses
Ginseng has been used in Asian medicine for perhaps 5000 years. Wild American ginseng was apparently used by many Indian tribes for increasing the fertility of women, as a tonic to increase mental powers, and to treat headache, cramps, fevers, rheu- matism, and cough. However, the extent to which these uses were acquired from visiting Europeans is uncertain.
Ginseng is the world's most widely used medicine, a consequence of its popularity in Asian medicine. Like vitamin C, it is widely used as a preventive medicine, and to maintain good health. It is commonly believed, especially in western countries, that it is an aphrodisiac, has amazing healing properties, provides energy, lowers blood pressure, retards the aging process, cures neurological disorders, and speeds recovery from sickness. Ginseng has been said to enhance digestion, stimulate blood circulation, relieve fatigue and cure blood diseases, and in general have a stimulating tonic effect. Ginseng has the reputation of being the ultimate elixir of life, a symbol of strength and long life, and a source of happiness. An extremely impressive number of ginseng recipes are employed in Asian medicine for various ailments. Particularly in the Orient, ginseng preparations are used medicinally to treat hypotension, hypertension, stress, insomnia, fatigue, depression, arthritis, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, bronchitis, some cancers, anemia, impotence, and premature aging.
There is some good evidence for the therapeutic value of ginseng, but it has been a subject of continuing controversy, with western scientists generally rejecting the claims of eastern medicine that ginseng has manifest benefits in the treatment of numerous illnesses. Much of ginseng medical research has been supported by those with commercial motives, and the design of experiments has often allowed researchers to draw whatever conclusions they wished, but could hundreds of millions of users be wrong?
Chemistry
Ginseng's alleged virtues are believed to be due to a large variety of root triterpene saponins called ginsenosides (less frequently panaxosides and panaquilins). These occur in the foliage as well as the roots, but by tradition only the roots are used. Many of these chemicals were assigned different names by American and Asian ginseng researchers, which of course can be confusing.
Non-medicinal Uses
Ginseng is almost exclusively used medicinally, although there is some very minor consumption of the root as a vegetable.
Agricultural and Commercial Aspects
The commercial significance of American ginseng was not discovered until after knowledge of Asian ginseng was disseminated to the West. Asian ginseng was first described in western literature in 1714 by PŠre Jartoux, a missionary in China. Jartoux conjectured that ginseng would be found in similar habitats in North America, and this information was transmitted by the Jesuits in Paris to their Canadian outposts. In 1704, Michel Sarrazin, the King's Physician to "New France," discovered American ginseng in Quebec, and brought some roots to Paris. However, not until Father Lafitau, a Jesuit priest and missionary among the Iroquois, read Jartoux's paper and found American ginseng near Montreal in 1716, did trade in the New World species begin. By 1718 the Jesuits were shipping dried roots, collected by the Iroquois, to China. They realized in the early 18th century that trade in American ginseng with China was extremely lucrative, and so they attempted to keep this trade secret. However, just why the celibate fathers were taking such an unusual interest in a certain low-growing herb rumored to be an aphrodisiac attracted attention, and eventually the secret leaked out. In the early 1700s, American ginseng became second only to fur as a trading commodity in New France. The practice of gathering ginseng in North America has continued to the present, especially by rural people in southern Appalachia, who harvest the roots for shipment to Asia and Europe. Historically, ginseng (mostly Asian) has fetched absurdly inflated prices - on occasion, thousands of dollars a kilogram for unusually shaped or larger roots.
American ginseng was first cultivated in Canada about 1890, but has been grown commonly only since the 1930s. The major centres of cultivation of American ginseng today are in the Haldimand-Norfolk region of southwestern Ontario, and southern British Columbia, and Wisconsin (mostly Marathon County, where 80% of US ginseng is grown). In the US, American ginseng is also grown in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and other states. About 545 tonnes were produced in 1991 in Wisconsin. In recent years, dried wild roots from Canada have sold for as much as $200.00/kg, while cultivated roots have sold for about $50.00/kg. In 1991, about 295 tonnes were grown in Ontario, worth an estimated $35,000,000. In British Columbia in 1992, about 109 tonnes of root worth about $13,000,000 were produced, as well as about 25 tonnes of seeds, worth about $5,000,000. Cana- dian production of ginseng is increasing. About 3/4 of recent production has been shipped to Hong Kong.
American ginseng plants take 5-7 years to mature and are grown from seeds or seedlings (1-3 years old). Loamy soils are best and 75% shade provided by screen or lath is essential. The crop is susceptible to fungus diseases and usually requires fungicide treatments as well as good air circulation. A good yield of roots is about 4 tonnes per hectare. The Ginseng Growers Association of Canada, centered in Simcoe, Ontario, helps Canadian farmers and promotes the market for the Canadian crop.
Ginseng is a major commodity of Asian commerce. The market for ginseng extends throughout the Far East, and there is comparatively minor usage as well in western nations. Five to six million people in the US alone consume ginseng regularly, and perhaps 20 million in western nations have used it. Until recently, ginseng products in North America were largely imported Asian ginseng, but North American-grown American ginseng is rapidly becoming popular as well in North America. Until recently, export of wild roots from Ontario amounted to 40,000 per year. A Canadian study completed m 1987 found that the rate at which the wild roots were being harvested would likely eliminate the plant over large portions of its Ontario range. The species is also quite rare in Quebec, so that collecting from the wild in Canada has been inadvisable for some time. In 1988, American ginseng was officially listed as "threatened" in Canada by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). In 1989 export of wild American Ginseng was officially discontinued from Canada pending evaluation of the magnitude of the threat. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CiTES) requires countries to show that exporting indigenous ginseng will not endanger the plant's survival. In the US, collection and sale of wild American ginseng are subject to registration, permits, and an official season. American ginseng provides an encouraging model of how to protect plants that have become seriously reduced in numbers because of over collecting. Measures have included both national protection and expansion of cultivation, thus reducing pressure on natural populations. These natural populations are potentially important sources of genetic variation for the improvement of the crop.
Myths, Legends, Tales, Folklore, and Interesting Facts
Chinese herbal medicine is based on the concept of yin and yang forces of Daoist herbal theory. Yang represents masculinity, strength, and heat, and yin by contrast is feminine, mild, and cold. Ginseng is generally considered to represent yang. However, American ginseng is "yin of the yang," and is considered good for the respiratory or digestive system to "reduce heat." The "cooler" American ginseng also is considered more desirable in hot climates. American ginseng supposedly also has more aphrodisiac effect.
Ginseng has a "contractile root" - a kind of root possessed by many perennial herbaceous species, which is designed to pull the root down into the ground. This is necessary to maintain the growing tip, which regenerates the stem each year, at ground level, where it is protected. Were it not for the contractile root, each season the growing rhizome would extend the growing tip higher into the air. To counteract the vertical growth of the rhizome, the ginseng roots contract yearly at the same rate at which the rhizome grows upward, pulling the plant downward.
In 1788 Daniel Boone collected about 13.6 tonnes of ginseng roots in what is now West Virginia and Kentucky to sell in Philadelphia. At a typical 18th century price of 25cents/kg (10 cents/pound), this would have fetched about $3000.00, an enormous sum of money in the 1780s. Unfortunately during transportation in a boat, the ginseng was damaged by flooding, and had to be redried. Adding to Colonel Boone's woes, during the delay required to dry the ginseng again the price in Philadelphia fell.
In 1908, Mr. L.J. Wilson of Pennington Gap, Virginia became totally exasparated at the prospect that the thieves who had robbed his ginseng garden the previous 2 years would return. He set up a series of shotguns with fine trip wires in his garden, with the result that a thief was shot to death and his companion wounded. A coroner's jury exonerated him from criminal blame.
The largest wild ginseng root collected was found in woods near Benzonia, Michigan by Custer Higgins; it weighed 1.2 kg.
The fable is told about the man who was arrested for selling a ginseng preparation allegedly adding years to one's life. The charlatan, it was found, had been arrested for the same offence before - in 1870, 1910, 1949, and 1975!
Dosage
Commission E recommends a dose of 1 to 2 grams of ginseng root per day.
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Directions
Take 1 capsule, 3 times daily, with meals.
Cautions
Toxicity
The incidence of adverse reactions to ginseng is very low. Nevertheless it has been suggested that those with hayfever, asthma, emphysema, and cardiac or blood clotting problems, as well as pregnant women, should limit consumption.
Additional Information
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