Growth and Ginsenosides Content of Ginseng Sprouts According to LED-Based Light Quality Changes

Myung-Min Oh,Yoon-Jeong Kim,Thi Kim Loan Nguyen

doi:10.3390/agronomy10121979

Abstract

This study investigated growth and ginsenosides content of ginseng sprouts under various light spectra. One-year-old ginseng seedlings were cultivated under various light treatments including: monochromatic (red (R), green (G), and blue (B)), various RB and RGB combinations, white (fluorescent lamps (FL) and natural white (NW)), and supplemental far red (FR). R and high R ratio increased growth characteristics of ginseng sprouts (excepted for root dry weight). The replacement of G for B in RGB group and W group did not increase the growth, and supplemental FR increased shoot and root fresh weights, total fresh weight, and leaf area. R had 1.5 times higher photosynthetic rate compared to B and G, and R8G1B1 and R9G1B0 showed the highest values in RGB group; whereas the RB, W, and FR groups did not enhance photosynthetic rate. B and high B ratio increased shoot saponin and ginsenosides, total saponin and ginsenosides contents. Total saponin content in shoot was 4.4 times higher than that in root. The supplemental FR enhanced both total saponin and ginsenosides contents. In conclusion, NW + FR showed the highest total fresh weight, saponin and ginsenosides contents among all treatments, suggesting that supplementation of FR has a positive effect on ginseng sprouts grown in plant factories.

Highlights

Panax ginseng is one of the most important medicinal plants and has commercially been cultivated in Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Vietnam
The leaf area and stem length showed a similar pattern to the shoot fresh weight; it can be considered that they were the main factors in determining the total fresh weight
According to the results of this study, R light was effective on enhancing growth characteristics as well as photosynthesis parameters, while B light had a positive effect on improving the total saponin and ginsenosides content

Summary

Introduction

Panax ginseng is one of the most important medicinal plants and has commercially been cultivated in Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Vietnam. Ginseng root is normally harvested between the fourth and sixth year of growth, which has been widely used for manufacturing health supplements and cosmetics. Many studies recently reported that ginsenosides content is higher in the leave than in the root cultivated for the same duration, and 1-year-old ginseng leave have the highest ginsenosides content [5,6]. Ginseng leave becomes an excellent source for food and industrial values, which raises the interest of producers on ginseng sprout cultivation for leaf production. Ginseng sprouts can be harvested after approximately 3 to 6 weeks of cultivating and are recognized as a crop with high economic efficiency and potential value

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion