Organic ginseng farming has rapidly increased in response to consumer demand for a safe product which improves health. Differences in soil nutrient concentration and ginsenoside content between organic and conventional ginseng farming have, however, not yet been properly studied. Therefore the aim of the present study was to compare soil nutrient concentration and ginsenoside content between these two farming systems. NO3-N, P2O5, and K were significantly different between organic and conventional ginseng farming. The total content of ginsenoside and individual ginsenoside components were higher in organically grown ginseng than in ginseng from conventional farming, although there is no significant difference. Particularly, protopanaxadiol saponins were higher than protopanaxatriol saponins in ginseng from organic farming compared to ginseng produced by conventional farming. NO3-N content in soils showed a negative correlation with the content of ginseno-sides Rb2 and Rd. In addition, P2O5 showed a negative correlation with ginseno-sides Rb1, Rc, and PD/PT ratio. Organic matter showed a positive crrelation with ginsenosides Re. To increase the ginsenoside content of ginseng, we recommend increasing organic matter and decreasing NO3-N and P2O5 contents in the soil.

This study was carried out to have the basic and applied informations relating to develop the cultivation methods and to increase the productivity and quality of ginseng. 1 to 6 year old ginsengs of Jakyung cultivar were cultivated and the content and synthetic amount of carbohydrates were investigated with different plant tissues, growth stages, and years old. The concentration of total carbohydrates at six year old ginseng including water soluble and water insoluble carbohydrates was about 18.9%, 42.9%, and 43,6% in leaves, tap roots, and lateral roots, respectively. Water soluble carbohydrate of tap and lateral roots was slightly decreased from August until September, and then increased on November, whereas its water insoluble carbohydrate was increased from August to September and then decreased on November. Comparing with the content of carbohydrates of 1 to 6 year old ginsengs, it was continuously increased from one year old ginseng until five year old ginseng, however it was not increased much in six year old ginseng. The highest content of carbohydrates was at five year-old in all tissues of ginseng. Water soluble and water insoluble carbohydrates were significantly shown different in leaves, stems, tap roots, and lateral root at different growth stages and with different years old. The content of water soluble carbohydrate in the leaves was remarkedly higher compared to that of water insoluble carbohydrate, while in the root the content of water insoluble carbohydrate was clearly higher compared to the water soluble carbohydrate. Comparing with the synthetic amount of carbohydrates, water soluble carbohydrates was higher in the shoot than that in the root, whereas water-insoluble carbohydrates higher in the root than that in the shoot. Carbohydrates which would be utilized in ginseng tissues for short and long-term periods as major energy were appeared differently in between shoot and root, with different growth stages, and years old.

This study was performed to investigate the effects of enhanced light transmission on plant growth, photosynthetic ability, and disease tolerance to leaf blight, anthracnose in ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, Araliacease family) during the early growth stage (April to June). The photosynthetic ratio, stomatal conductance, and stem diameter of plants grown under a shade net with 15% light transmission rate showed an increasing trend compared to the control plants (5% light transmission rate) although the growth of the aerial parts were not influenced significantly. Plant height, stem length, and leaf length of treated plants were not significantly different from those of the control plants. Root parameters, such as root length, diameter, and weight of treated plants increased significantly compared to the control. Yield performance (187.4 ㎏• 10 a−1) of treated plants was 55.5% higher than that of the control (150.4 ㎏• 10 a−1). Additionally, disease severity scores of treated plants were lower than those of the control plants, revealing higher survival rates. To retain high yield potential and enhance the level of disease tolerance in ginseng, we suggest the increase of light transmission rate during the early growth stage.

To study the effect of crop rotation on the control of ginseng root rot, growth characteristics and root rot ratioof 2-year-old ginseng was investigated after the crops of 18 species were cultured for one year in soil contaminated by thepathogen of root rot. Fusarium solani and Cylindrocarpon destructans were detected by 53.2% and 37.7%, respectively, frominfected root of 4-year-old ginseng cultivated in soil occurring the injury by continuous cropping. Content of NO3, Na, andP2O5 were distinctly changed, while content of pH, Ca, and Mg were slightly changed when whole plant of crops cultured forone year were buried in the ground. All of EC, NO3, P2O5, and K were distinctly increased in soil cultured sudangrass, pea-nut, soybean, sunnhemp, and pepper. All of EC, NO3, P2O5, and K among inorganic component showed negative effect onthe growth of ginseng when they were excessively applied on soil. The growth of ginseng was promoted in soil cultivatedperilla, sweet potato, sudangrass, and welsh onion, while suppressed in Hwanggi (Astragalus mongholicus), Deodeok(Codonopsis lanceolata) Doraji (Platycodon grandiflorum), Gamcho (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), Soybean. All of chicory, lettuce,radish, sunnhemp, and welsh onion had effective on the inhibition of ginseng root rot, while legume such as soybean,Hwanggi, Gamcho, peanut promoted the incidence of root rot. Though there were no significant correlation, NO3 showedpositive correlation, and Na showed negative correlation with the incidence of root rot.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of sowing density, number of seeds sown per hole, andthinning treatment on growth characteristics and disease occurrence in Panax ginseng under direct sowing cultivation in ablue plastic greenhouse. Seedling were grown from 2 or 3 seeds sown, and the healthiest was only retained, while the restwere thinned out at the foliation stage. NO3-N, P2O5, and organic matter content differed significantly between growthconditions in the plastic greenhouse and in conventional shade in the soil. Disease also tended to be higher in the conven-tional shade than in the plastic greenhouse. Plant height and stem length showed an increasing trend with increasing sowingdensity and number of seeds sown per hole. However, these measures noticeably decreased when thinning treatment wasconducted. Growth of the subterranean part of ginseng was not markedly influenced by sowing density, the number of seedssown per hole, or thinning treatment. Root weight, which is an important factor in yield, was significantly affected by thenumber of seeds sown and thinning treatment. Interestingly, root weight tended to be higher in the thinning treatment plotthan the untreated control plot. Damping-off and root rot increased noticeably as the number of seeds sown increased. Dis-ease also tended to be substantially higher in the thinning treatment plot than the untreated control. However, physiologicaldisorder of the plants did not vary with sowing density, the number of seeds sown, or thinning treatment.

In this study, the clinical safety and toxicology of oral ingestion of supplement capsules containing ginsengradix was investigated in healthy young volunteers. This study was a pilot randomized, double blinded, placebo controlledtrial. The healthy volunteers were divided into 6 groups of 20 each (10males and 10 females). They took the ginseng powderfor 35 days (3g/day) for safety evaluation. There were measured general healthy levels such as hematological, biochemical andelectrocardiographic parameters. After the first week, besides Korean white ginseng the other treatments led to an significantincrease of white blood cells. Korean red ginseng increased UREA (blood urea nitrogen) in healthy volunteers, but it didn’texceed the range of normal values, and in the subsequent process of treatment there is no effect of elevating UREA. After thethree weeks, Korean white ginseng showed relatively low the content of blood glucose and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.After the five weeks, compared with the other treatments, Korean red ginseng increased white blood cells, platelet distributionwidth and average volume of platelet. Korean white ginseng decreased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. American ginsengdecreased blood creatinine in healthy volunteers. In conclusion, through test the blood routine, urine routine, liver function,renal function, blood glucose, blood lipid and electrocardiogram, the healthy volunteers continuous taking ginsengfor 35 days (3g/day) is safe and reliable, and have no obvious adverse reactions and side effects.