Native Americans used the root as a stimulant and to treat headaches, fever, indigestion, and infertility. Ginseng remains one of the most popular herbs in the United States. Of the traditional ginsengs, American ginseng is probably the least used and researched variety. Americans have never been big consumers of American Ginseng.
In the past, American Ginseng was a rare folk remedy used as a mild stimulant, tonic and digestive aid. Most of this herb was exported to China, where most of the ginseng is consumed. American Ginseng is considered a less potent member of the Ginseng family, but it is a highly prized tonic and herbal remedy. American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a species of flowering plant in the ivy family Araliaceae.
It is native to eastern North America and was introduced to China. The specific epithet quinquefolius means five leaves, which refers to the typical number of leaflets per leaf. It belongs to a group of taxons known as Ginseng. Ginseng was the most revered herb in ancient times in China, Korea, Japan and the United States.
Ginseng was discovered more than 5000 years ago in the mountains of Manchuria, China. References to ginseng are found in books that date back more than two millennia. It is revered by the Chinese because it is considered an all-purpose herb and, therefore, for a wide range of diseases (currently its Latin name derives from the Greek panacea, which means, for everything). Thus, it was used exclusively by Chinese emperors, who were willing to pay the price without problems.
Increasing its fame, ginseng brought with it a flourishing international trade that allowed Korea to supply China with silk and medicines in exchange for wild and, later, together with what grows in the United States. Father Jartoux worked in China and published a text on medicinal plants that included Asian Ginseng (Panax Ginseng). Ginseng root can also be made into an alcohol tincture, as ginsenocides are soluble and keep well in alcohol. Only a small portion of American Ginseng remains in the United States, where it has never gained the same amount popularity.
Most of them are converted (like those in red ginseng) thanks to the heating process during production. However, there are a large number of people in the United States who practice traditional Chinese medicine and who are familiar with the use and powers of ginseng, whether they use it or not. In general, wild American Ginseng is of better quality than the cultivated plant, and the older and larger the root, the greater the amount of ginsenocides it contains. Red ginseng is produced from fresh ginseng, steamed without peeling the roots and then drying it, so the quality and quantity of the ginsenoside content vary if this procedure varies.
Some states encourage the planting of ginseng both to restore natural habitats and to eliminate pressure on remaining wild populations. In the late 1200s, the process began to be better described and Taekyoung Kim's (1850-1927 AD) text in the SohoDang miscellaneous and the method of preparing red ginseng that is currently used are described in Samjung-Yolam (A Policy Bulletin on Ginseng, 1908, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, The Great Korean Empire). Since 1972, several research groups that study the properties of the plant, such as the “Ginseng Research Institute” in New York, have conducted more in-depth research on its beneficial components, which has meant that its use has increased over time until today. It became a high-yield crop for both American producers and European traders, who were now more interested in exporting it to China than importing it.
The history of the use and trade of American ginseng goes back well beyond the Declaration of Independence. Previously, American ginseng was particularly widespread in the Appalachian and Ozark regions (and in adjacent forested regions, such as Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario). American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a plant native to deciduous forests in North America, whose root is a precious medicine in East Asia. Finally, red (brownish-pink) ginseng is steamed with water and then dried for long-term storage of up to 20 years.
However, American ginseng has been found to contain higher levels of ginsenocide RB1, which has a sedative effect on the central nervous system, than other species of ginseng.
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