Investigation of ginsenosides in different parts of Panax ginseng cultured by hydroponics.

It has been known that 4-6 years old roots of Panax ginseng are used traditionally for medicinal purpose as white ginseng or steamed red ginseng. In this research, the contents and composition of ginsenoside in different parts such as root, leaf, and stem of Panax gingeng were investigated after short term hydroponics in several kinds of mixed culture media for 120 days to evaluate Panax ginseng as new functional vegetables. Total ginsenoside contents of root and leaf were higher on the ginsengs cultured after planting on March 25, 2008 (PMar) than planting on January 20, 2008 (PJan), regardless of the kinds of mixed culture media. Especially, total ginsenoside contents in root and leaf were the highest as 1.47 (T5 culture medium; Loess:Perlite:Expanded rice hull mixed 4:3:3) and 16.06% (T6 culture medium; Sand:Horticultural substrate mixed 4:6), respectively. On the other hand, the content of total ginsenoside in stem was higher in PJan, and the content was the highest as 1.39% in T5 culture medium. Rh1 that is hardly detected in 4-6 years old ginseng root was contained in leaf of hydroponics ginseng as 0.15-0.25% (T5, T6). Leaf of hydroponics ginseng showed that Rd was second ingredient next to Rg1, differently from ginseng root. The ratio of protopanaxdiol (PD) and protopanaxatriol saponins (PT) in root, leaf, and stem of Panax ginseng were lower than root of 4-6 years old ginseng as 0.5-0.6, 0.5-0.7, and 0.1-0.2 (PJan, PMar; T5, T6), respectively. Conclusively, T5 and T6 culture media of PMar condition were the most excellent hydroponics condition due to high ginsenoside content, and the content of total ginsenoside in leaf was significantly higher than in root and stem, which suggested that the whole ginseng plant including root, leaf, and stem might be an excellent source as new functional vegetables.