History of ginseng

Panax Ginseng C. A. Ginseng is a relict plant of the Far East. It is widely used in medicines in China, Korea and other countries of eastern Asia. The wanderings in search of wild ginseng and its healing power, which strengthens the human body and protects it from negative environmental influences, are covered in legends and described in numerous works of fiction.

Ginseng: the mystery of the name

In 1833, the Korean ginseng was first named Panax Schineseng Nees by the German botanist Nys von Ezenbeck. The name Panax Ginseng was finally given by C. A. Meyer, the Korean ginseng was named Panax ginseng by the Russian scientist Carl Anton Meyer in 1843.

It is no coincidence that the word “rapach” is in harmony with the well-known term “panacea”, as it originated from the name of the daughter of the ancient Greek mythological healer Aesculapius. In Greek, it means “all-healing”, or in popular translation, “the cure for all ills”.

This plant is called ginseng because its root resembles a human figure; it was thought to represent the three human essences – spirit, soul and body. Ginseng was also known as the ‘king of plants’ or ‘lord of plants’.

The word “ginseng” was taken from Chinese (“rénshen”), which literally means “root man” or otherwise “branching root like a man”. The Korean name for ginseng is also insam (in-sam).

Thousands of years of use

Panax ginseng was discovered more than 2,000 years ago in the Manchurian hills of China. Since then, it has taken its place as the most revered medicinal plant in traditional Oriental medicine. In ancient China, it was used to treat many ailments, from simple fatigue to cardiovascular disease. Ancient chronicles record that ginseng was valued more than gold and was stocked for the treatment of royalty.

The treatise Shen Nun Ben Cao Ching (100 AD) attributed to ginseng the ability to increase longevity and claimed that it was indispensable for “enlightening the mind and acquiring wisdom”.

The ancient Chinese annals say that Shen-nun (the Divine Peasant), also known as Emperor Yang or the Yellow Emperor, i.e. one of the “Three Emperors”, began taking herbal medicines 5,500 years ago, tasted hundreds of plants and discovered many medicinal properties of various herbs. His working records were lost many years ago, but their contents and Shen-nun’s experiences were passed down orally from generation to generation. Many years later, they were finally compiled into the book Shen Nun Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nun’s Herbalist) by Tao Hongjing in 502-557 AD.

He classified three hundred and sixty-five species of plants and divided them into three classes according to their degree of toxicity. The highest class included non-poisonous plants that multiplied vitality, strengthened and rejuvenated the body, and could be taken continuously. A striking representative of this class is ginseng.

Ginseng is also mentioned by the Chinese Shi Yo in his book Jizhuzhang (Classification of living organisms), which dates from 48-33 BC. Recipes for ginseng were also found in the Shangana Lun (a treatise on fevers), which dates from 196-200 AD.

In addition, there are many legends in which ginseng root is mentioned. One legend tells us of a young man whose mother suffered from an incurable illness; in a vision he found a miraculous cure deep in the mountains. When he met a strange old man who was in a state of frenzied rapture, he encountered a mountain spirit who handed him ginseng.

The Eastern healers believed that ginseng could make a man stronger, more resilient, give him longevity and an everlasting youthfulness of spirit.

According to statements in the “Benzao Ganmu” (Encyclopedia of Herbs) written in 1596 A.D. by Li Shizhen, a Chinese scholar, ginseng was used to treat 23 types of diseases.

The herb is also included in 653 (16.6%) of 3,944 prescriptions in the Donkeya Bogum (Korean Clinical Pharmacopoeia).

When evaluating the data of traditional medicine in the Far East about the very diverse healing properties of ginseng, the first thing that draws attention is its general restorative, “revitalising” effect on the human body as a whole.

In the decree of one of the last Chinese emperors, which listed the diseases that are recommended to be treated with ginseng, in the first place, it is said that “… ginseng helps with any weakness, in cases of excessive physical or mental fatigue or tiredness… it enhances the spiritual and bodily activity of organs, encourages the mood of mind…”. Li Shi-Zhen especially emphasises ginseng’s ability to… “restore a man’s spirit of life in cases where he has already lost the latter”.

In their treatises, Oriental healers paid special attention to longevity, which is inevitably gained by taking ginseng extracts.

Early scientific research

The prospect of unravelling the mystery of this miraculous plant has appealed to many generations of scientists. Numerous studies have explained why ginseng has such a powerful medicinal effect; the properties that have made humans use ginseng for thousands of years have finally been scientifically confirmed.

The American species of this “miraculous” plant was discovered in 1714 by Father Lafiteau, a Jesuit priest who worked as a missionary with the Canadian Indians. Based on the theory that ginseng could grow in the Americas, as the climatic conditions in China and North America were similar, Father Lafiteau spent a long time searching for the plant. Eventually he discovered that ginseng was used as a medicinal plant by the indigenous Indians, but under a different name.

British physicians F. Porter Smith and J.A. Stewart, working in China in the late nineteenth century, were among the first European scientists to learn of the amazing healing properties of Korean ginseng. The high popularity of ginseng has contributed to the growth of new research on the ‘root of life’ and its potential applications in alternative and traditional medicine.

In 1854, Garrix (USA) discovered a substance in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) and named it “panquillon”. In 1957, almost a century later, the Russian scientist I. I. Brekhman published a monograph, which he called “Ginseng”. In the monograph, he suggested that the active substance of the plant was “saponin”. He also proposed an adaptogenic theory which described how the active ingredient in Korean ginseng eliminated physical exhaustion by increasing the body’s nonspecific resistance to a wide range of harmful influences. The active ingredient has been called an ‘adaptogen’.

Биологически активные вещества женьшеня всегда привлекали внимание ученых, но только в начале 1960-х годов появились технические возможности, позволившие извлечь эти вещества из растения и изучить строение этих сложных природных соединений.

The biologically active substances in ginseng have always attracted the attention of scientists, but it was not until the early 1960s that the technology became available to extract these substances from the plant and to study the structure of these complex natural compounds.

G. B. Yeliakov was the first Russian scientist to set and then, together with his collaborators, solve this difficult task. They succeeded in isolating individual glycosides of triterpene nature – panaxosides. Around the same time, Japanese scientists Drs. Shibata and Tanaka isolated and described Korean ginseng saponins and their species. They were given the name “ginsenosides”. This is the name most modern scientists use in their work. The work of these scientists served as the starting point for the development of ginseng research.

After the discovery of ginsenosides by Japanese and Russian scientists, a rapid increase in research began, resulting in more than 5,000 published scientific papers to date.


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