Background : Currently sprout ginsengs are produced in extensive variations of cultivation times, methods and specifications that are different in each farm in Korea. Also, regardless the effective ingredient content of ginseng, overgrown sprout ginseng are distributed so that the quality standardization of sprout ginseng is urgently required. The sprout ginseng market is only a segment of the Korean ginseng market still. However, If development of processed products utilizing the functionalities is connected, the market may exponentially grow. Also, if the use of sprout ginseng is extended to productions of drinks, cosmetics, facial masks and others in the cosmetics and health functional food industries, the export competitiveness to the global market is expected to increase. Therefore, this study aims the quality standardization of sprout ginseng to secure the market competitiveness in Korea and overseas by examining the property change following the cultivation phases.
Methods and Results : For the overground growing in green houses, the sprout ginsengs planted in early April and early June show to be better in growing than the ones planted in early August. For the underground growing, while no significance is found among the cultivation periods, the sprout ginsengs planted in early June are excellent in terms of the root length and the weight of overground portion. Also, according to the examination on the stem properties of 2-year grown sprout ginsengs in each cultivation time, a trend that, as the growing period is longer from 25 days to 35 days, 45 days and 95 days, the hardness, gumminess, chewingness and springiness of stem are higher. And, on the hardness, gumminess, chewingness and springiness of leaf, while no statistically significance is found in the growing periods from 25 days to 45 days, the 95-day sprout ginsengs show high figures referring that the leaves becomes tougher.
Conclusion : In case of cultivating sprout ginsengs in a green house, cultivating in April - June is advantageous for the overground and underground growing. And, it is determined that cultivating sprout ginsengs for 35 - 45 days produces leaves and stems with the most excellent chewing textures felt by consumers when chewing.