The Miracle Root

"I know what a ginseng root looks like, but how does it look like above the soil?" 

That was the question that was posed to me by one of my friends, and being the ever-adamant horticulturist, I was stumped. *Insert gasping emoji* Well, I figured that I might as well find out the answer, so I can enlighten him (and myself) of how the ginseng plant looks like as a whole organism. So researching I went, and came up with a lot more than just how the plant looks above the soil.

The whole plant of Panax notoginseng

Ok, so the term 'Ginseng' is a collective term used to describe plants whose roots have medicinal value/uses. It is made up of various genera of plants, but of which, 'Panax' is the more commonly used one. 'Panax' in latin means 'cure-all', and it comes from the Araliaceae family. So you could say it is a cousin of Osmoxylon and Schefflera. It is mainly grown and cultivated in Asia, notably China, Japan and Korea. The Chinese know it better as 田七 (Tiánqī), which means 'three-seven root' because the plant mainly has three branches with seven leaves each. However, I think this is just a generalization because not all all of them look the same. Anyway, it tastes sweet and slightly bitter. 

Morphologically speaking, it enjoys shade, so it will probably shrivel up and melt under the hot sun if exposed to it directly. It also has the signature palmate leaf arrangement like Schefflera. It has tiny white flowers, which will bear bright red berries later on. 

Bright red berries

So why is it lauded as a miracle root? Well, it acts mainly as a haemostatic, meaning that it stops bleeding. Being antihaemorrhagic, it contracts tissues to seal up injured blood vessels. I'm no biologist, so I didn't really delve deep into the chemical and biological reactions to how it works inside the body. All I know is that ginseng contains 'ginsenocide' which helps to calm nerves, and 'dencichine' which is an amino acid, that helps to stop bleeding and encourage platelet formation. So essentially, it is very good for the blood system because it encourages blood flow and repairs. Now who wouldn't want that? Of course, the more mature the plant, the more potent the 'ginsenocide' content will be. 

There are mainly 2 different forms of Ginseng: Red and White Ginseng. Red ginseng is steamed after harvesting and dried, without removing the epidermis (outer tissue layer). So this will render the root turning reddish, therefore the namesake. White ginseng is harvested, epidermis removed, and just dried under the sun. 


There are also 2 different main types of ginseng: Asian and American.

Asian Ginseng: Panax notoginseng/pseudoginseng (人參)

American Ginseng: Panax quinquefolius 西洋参 (west ocean ginseng). But if you go to a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop, it is better known as 花旗參(Star-spangled banner). (Thanks Qian Yi for the information) This is actually native to the USA, but currently extensively cultivated in China. Due to overharvesting, it is now rare in the USA.

Panax quinquefolius

However, like everything, too much of a good thing might not be that good. So an overdose of ginseng might have side effects:
Headaches
Sleeping irregularities
Allergic reactions
Menstrual abnormalities
Not recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding women


Well, I hope this has somehow been enlightening in one way or another. I for one will still not get ginseng because it just costs so much for a root. =/

~moey out~