Ginseng

Insam (ginseng).jpg

A root of cultivated Korean ginseng (P. ginseng)

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

人蔘

野山參

水參

白參

紅參

Simplified Chinese

人参

野山参

水參

白蔘

紅蔘

Literal meaning

human root (ginseng)

wild mountain root (wild ginseng)

water root (fresh ginseng)

white root (dried ginseng)

red root (dried steamed ginseng)

Transcriptions

Cantonese name
Chinese

人參

野生人參

Literal meaning

human root (ginseng)

wild human root (wild ginseng)

Transcriptions

Hokkien name

Chinese

人參

Transcriptions

Korean name

Hangul

인삼

산삼

장뇌삼

수삼

백삼

홍삼

태극삼

Hanja

人蔘

山蔘
長腦蔘

水蔘

白蔘

紅蔘

太極蔘

Literal meaning

human root (ginseng)

mountain root (wild ginseng)

long brain root (wild cultivated ginseng)

water root (fresh ginseng)

white root (dried ginseng)

red root (dried steamed ginseng)

taegeuk root (dried blanched ginseng)

Transcriptions

Ginseng (/ˈdʒɪnsɛŋ/[1]) is the root of plants in the genus Panax, such as Korean ginseng (P. ginseng),
South China ginseng (P. notoginseng), and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius), typically characterized
by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin.

Although ginseng has been used in traditional medicine over centuries,[2] there is little evidence from
clinical research that it has any effects on health.[3]

Contents

1 Etymology

2 History

3 Ginseng species

4 Wild and cultivated ginseng

4.1 Wild ginseng

4.2 Cultivated ginseng

5 Ginseng processing

5.1 Fresh ginseng

5.2 White ginseng

5.3 Red ginseng

6 Production

7 Uses

7.1 Culinary

7.2 Medicinal

8 Safety

8.1 Overdose

9 Other plants sometimes called ginseng

10 See also

11 References

12 Further reading

Etymology

The English word "ginseng" comes from the Hokkien Chinese jîn-sim (人蔘). The first character 人 means
"person" and the second character 蔘 means "plant root";[4] this refers to the root's characteristic
forked shape, which resembles the legs of a person.[5]

The botanical genus name Panax, meaning "all-healing" in Greek, shares the same origin as "panacea"
and was applied to this genus because Carl Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine as a
muscle relaxant.

History
One of the first written texts covering the use of ginseng as a medicinal herb was the Shen-Nung
Pharmacopoeia, written in China in 196 AD. In his Compendium of Materia Medica herbal of 1596, Li
Shizhen described ginseng as a "superior tonic". However, the herb was not used as a "cure-all"
medicine, but more specifically as a tonic for patients with chronic illnesses and those who were
convalescing.[6]

Control over ginseng fields in China and Korea became an issue in the 16th century.[7]

Ginseng species

Ginseng plants belong only to the genus Panax.[8] Cultivated species include Korean ginseng (P.
ginseng), South China ginseng (P. notoginseng), and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius).[9] Ginseng is
found in cooler climates—Korean ginseng (P. ginseng) native to Korean Peninsula, Northeast China, and
Russian Far East, and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius) native to Canada and the United States—
although some species grow in warm regions—South China ginseng (P. notoginseng) native to
Southwest China and Vietnam. Vietnamese ginseng (P. vietnamensis) is the southernmost ginseng
known.