Korean Ginseng or Panax ginseng (Meyer)

Korean Ginseng is also known as: Panax schinseng (Nees), schinsent, ninjin, jintsam, ren shen, Korean ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Oriental ginseng and ‘Wonder of the World’.

Panax is a perennial plant indigenous to the mountainous forests of the northern temperate zone of Eastern Asia and is cultivated in China, Korea and Japan. It has a thick, spindle-like brown-yellow root, often divided at the end. The simple glabrous stem bears a whorl of three or five palmately compound leaves consisting of five oblong-ovate, finely double-serrate leaflets. From June to August it is topped with a single umbel of greenish-yellow flowers. The fruit is a small edible drupe-like pale red berry. The activity of young cultivated roots is said to be up to half that of old roots grown in the wild.

Commercially produced Panax is either grown as undergrowth in shady forests, or shaded by mats in the open. Two forms are available, - 'white' Ginseng (often with the outer skin peeled off) and 'red' ginseng, prepared by steaming the root before drying. Red ginseng contains all the saponins so far isolated from white ginseng, and others which are probably formed during the steaming process.

Ginseng’s support of the brain's production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) appears to improve mental performance, learning, and memory and sensory awareness, exactly as Chinese tradition has always maintained.

Constituents include:

• steroidal glycosides known as panaxosides or ginsenosides which, on extraction or drying, may be hydrolysed and the aglycones converted to panaxadiols and panaxatriols.
• At least 25 ginsenosides have been identified: triterpene glycosides (hormone-like saponins).
• Also acetylenic compounds: panaxynol (falcarintriol), panaxydol and others; peptidoglycans (panaxans A-E); sesquiterpenes, including b-elemene; amino acids, peptides, volatile oil, sugars, sterols, starch, pectin, choline, fats, vitamins B1, B2 and B12 and minerals (zinc, copper, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, vanadium).
• Other constituents include the panaxans, which help lower blood sugar and the polysaccharides (complex sugar molecules), which support immune function.
• Numerous double-blind studies have confirmed Chinese tradition, objectively demonstrating Asian ginseng's ability to lower blood sugar, reduce fatigue and stress, and support the normal function of the hypothalamic- pituitary- andrenal axis, the hormonal stress system of the body.

Ginseng has the following actions:

• thymoleptic
• adaptagenic
• stimulant
• tonic
• demulcent
• stomachic
• cardio tonic
• hypoglycaemic
• reputed aphrodisiac 

Panax is an adaptagenic herb; it enhances the body's resistance to external stresses and improves physical and mental performance. It acts on the central nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems, promotes immune function and metabolism, and has bio-modulation actions. The hormone-like substances in the plant account for its simultaneous sedative and stimulating (adaptogenic) effect on the central nervous system. Panax improves the responses of the adrenal cortex in secreting the stress hormones possibly by interacting with receptor sites at the cortex and at the hypothalamus, variously stimulating and relaxing the central nervous system, affecting hepatic metabolism and glycogen utilisation by skeletal muscle.

Ginseng has been found to have a beneficial effect on carbohydrate tolerance in diabetic patients. In general, Panax improves the balance of functions in the body. Ginseng is a valuable general plant drug for geriatric care. In China, it is also used during labour. As a demulcent, it is helpful for coughs, colds and various chest problems. Enhanced blood alcohol clearance has also been demonstrated.

Ginseng, Panax notoginseng (Burk.), is probably the most important wound-healing herb in the Chinese pharmacopoeia. It has been used successfully to treat angina pectoris. Ginseng was also used extensively by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War to increase recovery from gunshot wounds.