Ginseng is a popular dicotyledonous herb, valued for its medicinal abilities. There are two species of Ginseng. Panex Ginseng is the Asian species and Panax quinquefolius if the American species. Although both herbs are practically the same it is said that the Asian species has the greater healing virtue. Ginseng is a perennial herb. It has a straight deep red stem that can grow to 60-80 cm tall. It has compound leaves, that divide into separate leaflets but still have a common leafstalk. The three levees at the end of the stem are considerably larger than the two lateral leaflets. The leaflets are long, thin and fingerlike, henceforth the nickname of five fingers. The following is a picture of the American Ginseng plant.

Over the years the plant has acquired various other nicknames, such as San, Red berry, Root of life, Devine root, Man’s Health and Tartar root. Ginseng’s small pink flowers are found in clusters at the end of stems with small red berries alongside. The most valuable part of the ginseng plant are its roots. The roots can grow to 5-6cms long and are grayish white or amber yellow in colour. The root surface is wri

When the roots are dried they are packed delicately into an assortment of boxes and airtight tins to prevent the leakage of moisture. These days although wild ginseng is very rare to come by it is still believed that wild ginseng has a higher medical properties compared to cultivated ginseng.

Now a days, after more research the herb is used in the lowering of blood sugar and cholesterol levels, regulating the metabolism rate and to protect against stress, hopefully reducing mortality. In Korea race horses were fed ginseng to obtain improved performance. The Soviet Academy of Sciences Ginseng Committee have conducted experiments to see if athletes that have been fed Ginseng will perform better than those who have not been fed ginseng. They concluded that ginseng made athletes less afflicted by fatigue. The Fromm operation funded in 1970 aimed to find out if the ginseng compound was useful in cancer research.

In Britain pharmacies stock a Swiss made capsule called Pharmaton that contains Ginseng with various vitamins and minerals that also contain ginseng. In the United States and many other countries around the world, products containing Ginseng in the form of liquid extracts, capsules, chewing gum, teas, candy and even cigarettes can be sold without prescriptions sometimes as health foods and remedies. Ginseng products are sometimes bought as remedies to rheumatism (various painful conditions of the joints and muscles, characterized by inflammation, stiffness etc. includes gout, arthritis…), anemia ( A condition where the reduction of red blood cells, or hemoglobin causes paleness, and general weakness), insomnia (the abnormal prolonged inability to sleep, causing restlessness and drowsiness in the daytime). It is also used for anti-aging. Other users buy ginseng to treat bronchitis, asthma, TB, poor circulation, digestive irritations, diabetes, influenza and other ailments. Evidence shows that ginseng stimulates carbohydrate metabolism in the liver, improves memory and brain function and stimulates cell growth, most people take ginseng just for a general energy boost. Ginseng is taken by many people in many different ways. Ginseng capsules are sold in health food or Chinese medicine stores, ginseng powder can be used to make a flavored drink or tea. The dried root is used to make remedies or soup. Over time the herb has become popular in the kitchen. Apart from tea, Ginseng now adds flavor to gum, chicken soup, porridge, seven-up/ sprite, jelly, honey, and even wine. Ginseng has been produced into a cocktail as well as a “Ginseng Rush” soft drink. The fragrance of Ginseng has been used by cosmetic companies such as Clairol and added to products such as soap, after shave, cologne, perfumes, shampoo and hair care products.

Due to the increased demand for ginseng, wild ginseng supplies in the forests have slowly diminished over the past years. Some diggers seem to think that the Ginseng in the forest is free for exploitation and they are just digging up wild populations of ginseng without worrying about the consequences. As a result the wild ginseng will soon fade to exist in the American forest ecosystem. Canada, which used to be the worlds leading Ginseng traders

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