Ginseng :: Botany

GinsengGinseng has long been recognized as an herb possessing great value. The first written record of the use of ginseng can be found in a Chinese Herbal dated in the 1st Century B.C. This Chinese Herbal, Shen-nung pen tsao ching, was surely preceded by a long verbal history of ginseng for in ancient China, ginseng was eternally held in the highest esteem as a powerful drug (5). History shows that early Chinese emperors placed great value in ginseng. Early emperors proclaimed its roots as having many uses, primarily as a tonic or stimulant for both physical and mental disorders (9). In addition, it was used for change magnitude fertility and sexuality, and most importantly for strengthening the body. In fact, ginseng was so esteemed as a botanical drug that it was an important trade commodity, at times serving as payment for ransom and as payments of tribute to the Chinese government (3). As the demand for ginseng increased, cultivation of the plant was initiated to moon-curser the dwindling supply of undue ginseng. The earliest plantations were in southeastern Manchuria and what is present day North Korea (5). Missionaries in China during the early 1700s became aware of ginseng and by and by their knowledge of its commercial value spread to eastern North America. The export of wild ginseng root from America to the Orient began in the early 1700s. In 1773 the sloop Hingham sailed from Boston to China with 55 tons of ginseng on board. The first shipment of ginseng to China after the American Revolution is reported to mother been made by John Jacob Astor from New York in 1782. The root from that shipment was said to have been sold for cardinal dollars a pound. As in Asia, wild American ginseng became scarce. Its cultivation began in the 19th Century with much of the plant being grown in Wisconsin and Ohio. It has been reported that nearly 21,000 tons of American ginseng has been exported between 1821 and 1983 (1). Ginseng is the common name of two speci es of Panax of the family Araliaceae. Panax ginseng is the Asian species and Panax quinquefolius is the American species. Harding (1972) describes four varieties of P. ginseng and three varieties of P. quinquefolius (4). Shorter forms of the common name ginseng, sang and seng, are used in the United States. Other common names include red-berry and five fingers. Ginseng is a perennial herb 60-80 cm tall.