Ginseng Production Research Articles

Effect of growing media on the production of ginseng (Panax ginseng) in Central Otago, New Zealand

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a potential new crop for New Zealand. Under artificial shade, 1‐year‐old seedlings were grown in either peat‐ or soil‐based media for 4 years. At the final harvest mean root fresh weight was 55 g/plant in the peat media and 40 g/plant in the soil media. Total ginsenoside % of the 5‐year‐old roots was up to 6.9%. Macrochemical content (N, P, K, S, Mg, Ca) and trace element (Mn, Zn, Cu, Fe, B) content of roots at each harvest and of the leaves at the final harvest, were determined and compared with reported levels for P. ginseng and standards for P. quinquefolius. Botrytis cinerea was present on plant material throughout the experiment, and there was evidence of predation by the scarab larvae of Costelytra novae‐zealandica in the first year. After 4 years of growth, 45% of the plants in the soil media and 63% of plants in the peat‐based media survived.

119 Rapid Somatic Embryogenesis and Plant Regeneration in American Ginseng (Panax quiquefolium L.)

Ginseng is a very valuable agricultural species grown for its root, which contains pharmacologically active constituents. One limiting factor for expansion of ginseng production is an efficient method for mass propagation. Currently, seeding is the principal method of propagating ginseng, but the embryo of ginseng seeds at harvest is immature. A stratification schedule consisting of a cool-warm-cool temperature treatment over 18-22 months is required for embryo development and seed germination. An alternative for the efficient production of ginseng is mass propagation through the use of in vitro culture techniques. The objective of this work was to develop a highly efficient system for regeneration of ginseng. The efficacy of three auxins, viz. 2,4-D, NAA and dicamba, were compared for the induction of somatic embryogenesis in American ginseng. Somatic embryos formed on ginseng cotyledonary, zygotic embryo, and shoot explants after 8 weeks of induction by the auxins. Significantly more somatic embryos were induced by culture of any of the ginseng explants on media supplemented with 5 μmol·L-1 2,4-D than any other auxin treatment. Histological and SEM studies confirmed that the regenerants were somatic embryos. Somatic embryos germinated and developed into normal plants in 3-6 months. The development of a regeneration system for ginseng using somatic embryogenesis is a necessary first step for mass propagation and the improvement of American ginseng.

Production of ginseng and its bioactive components in plant cell culture: Current technological and applied aspects

Ginseng (the root of Panax ginseng CA Mayer) is a valuable oriental herb, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, both as a disease-healing drug and a general tonic. The medicinal value of ginseng is now also widely recognized in the west and the world ginseng market is expanding. The current supply of ginseng depends mainly on field cultivation, which is a slow and laborious process. Plant cell and tissue culture methods have been explored as potentially more efficient alternatives for the mass production of ginseng and its bioactive components. Research into ginseng cell and tissue cultures started in the early 1960s and commercial applications have been underway since the late 1980s. The ginseng cell culture has continued to attract considerable research and development effort in recent years as scientists seek to understand and optimize the culture conditions. In this paper, we review recent studies on ginseng cell culture processes, focusing on the physiological and bioengineering factors affecting the productivity of ginseng biomass and useful metabolites (e.g. ginseng saponin and polysaccharide) and the progress and concerns in large-scale applications.

Ginsenosides in hairy roots of a panax hybrid1Part 3 in the series `Ginsenoside Production, Tissue Culture and Induction of Interspecific Hybrid Ginseng (Panax ginseng×P. quinquefolium)'1

Hairy roots of an interspecific hybrid ginseng ( Panax ginseng × P. quinquefolium ), named Pgq, were established by the infection of Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC 15834. Growth and ginsenosides content of hairy roots cultured in various basal liquid media were measured periodically from 2 to 8 weeks. In Gamborg B5 liquid medium, the hairy roots showed best growth (5.87 g fresh weight per flask) at week 8. The highest content of ginsenoside was 2.87% as dry weight at week 8 when cultured in 1/8 Murashige–Skoog liquid medium. The ginsenoside content of Pgq hairy roots was comparable to that of Pgq root cultivated in the field. However the highest yield of ginsenosides was obtained in B5 liquid medium (3.85 mg per flask at week 8).

Winter mortality risk for American ginseng ( Panax quinquefolium) in Saskatchewan

North American ginseng is native to the deciduous forest region of eastern North America but is now cultivated in areas well beyond its natural range. In recent years an expanding market has attracted growers in climatically less suitable regions, including the Canadian prairies. The ginseng root requires at least four years to reach marketable size and is sensitive to injury when the temperature drops below about −4°C. Such temperatures are not unusual in the prairies; thus winter kill is a hazard that may limit ginseng production in this region of Canada. This study analyses the risks of winter soil temperatures falling below levels critical for the survival of ginseng in Saskatchewan. It appears that winter conditions may be too severe for reliable production of this lucrative crop, although application of straw mulch and additional benefits of trapped snow could reduce the risk of winter kill.

Mass Production of Ginseng (Panax ginseng) Embryoids on Media Containing High Concentrations of Sugar1

A lot of ginseng embryoids were produced by culturing on high concentrations of sugar media from the embryogenic tissues obtained by moderately high temperature treatment. When the sucrose concentration was 100 g/l, the number of embryoids produced were over 100 pieces per g of inoculum weight. It was about ten times of that produced by culturing on 30 g/l of sucrose. Glucose showed an effect similar to sucrose on the basis of weight percentage. However, mannitol did not show this effect. The embryoids obtained by these processes redifferentiated to normal plantlets on culturing on the medium containing 30 g/l of sucrose. The saponin components of the tissue containing embryoids showed a similar pattern to those of natural GINSENG by HPLC.

GINSENG CULTIVATION AND PHYSIOLOGY

Ginseng is an herbaceous perennial that is cultivated for its highly valued root. It is used as a cure-all, wonder drug and aphrodisiac, the active principles being saponins (ginsenosides). The essential features of the cultural system are shade, a mulch and the growing of plants on raised beds. The plants are obtained either by direct seeding or by seeding into a nursery bed and transplanting. The established crop requires spraying for diseases, insects and weed control. Although ginseng has been cultivated in North America for over 100 years associated research on mechanisms controlling growth and development of the plant has been minimal. Crop establishment is a highly vulnerable stage in the life cycle of ginseng growing yet we know little about fruit and seed set, seed quality, stratification and germination. The growing environments for ginseng have only recently been precisely defined. However, we need to know more about environmental variables and their inter-relationship particularly in relation to photosynthesis and dry matter partitioning. Disease control is the central problem in world ginseng production and requires an integrated approach.

The Production of Ginseng and Peony in Yatsuka-cho, Shimane Prefecture

The Production of Ginseng and Peony in Yatsuka-cho, Shimane Prefecture

長野県望月町における薬用人蔘の生産形態と出耕作の構造

The purpose of this research is to analyze the characteristics of the ginseng production taking farmhouse as the study unit. To achieve this purpose, it was mainly focused on the condition of farm management, Mochizuki-machi, Nagano prefecture was chosen as the study area, where is the most active producing place in Japan.The results for the study are as follows:1) The production of ginseng in Japan has been continuously increased with the growth of demands from international markets since 1950. Nagano prefecture has played a leading role for ginseng production in Japan, In Nagano prefecture, the major production region of ginseng has been restricted to the east part of Nagano prefecture since Meiji period, and Mochizuki-machi, Ueda-city, Kitamimaki-mura, Maruko-machi, Tateshina-machi, and Usda-machi are regarded as the specialized area for ginseng production in these days.2) Among major production areas of ginseng in Nagano prefecture, Mochizuki-machi started o develop greatly turning the 1960s and is characterized by the production of six-year ginseng having an advantage in terms of its price compared with other producing areas. It is because many farms of ginseng processing are located in Mochizuki-machi and bacause the ginseng cultivators in Mochizuki-machi want to sell at high price to the ginseng processors, after the 1970s, farmers in Mochizuki-machi bacame to cultivate ginseng in leased lands at nearby areas as Tobu-machi and Saku-city, distributing relatively large slope areas and having very convenient transportation network, because of declining the fertility of soil.3) Most ginseng cultivators in Mochizuki-machi produce ginseng in the leased land, mainly upland field, at present. Moreover, some farmers are fully develoment on the leased land for the ginseng cultivation. In research areas, farmers in Kanonji are the most active cultivators for the production of ginseng. More dependent on leased land ginseng cultivators are larger size of the farmhouse, Ginseng cultivators and its processors can be devided into three types based on the management patterns of ginseng. And there is a tendency of introducing the ginseng processing industry to the farmhouse for the stability of farm management.

History of Ginseng

To the Editor.— Although the wellresearched article by Ronald K. Siegel, PhD, Abuse Syndrome: Problems With the Panacea (241:1614, 1979) described the pharmacologic effects of ginseng adequately, I believe that the history of this herb should be discussed in greater detail, because the health food industry has been active in ascribing and promoting an exotic, novel quality to ginseng that is not deserved. Ginseng has been known in the United States since colonial times. The plantPanax ginseng (Schinseng)grows wild in the forests of many states and from earliest times has been gathered for export, not for home consumption. Daniel Boone was active in the ginseng trade in 1788, and George Washington mentions the gathering of the plant in his diary.1All of the US ginseng production, wild or cultivated, was exported to the Orient, and the plant played a large part in opening trade with China.