Northern China and today is grown as a cash crop in
China, Korea, Japan, and Russia. American ginseng
once grew wild from the Appalachian Mountains to
Minnesota. Today it is cultivated mainly in Wisconsin
and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British
Columbia. Most cultivated ginseng from North Amer-
ica is exported to Asia. In both Asia and North Amer-
ica, wild ginseng is threatened with extinction from
over harvesting. In the United States, a government
permit is usually required to export wild ginseng.
High-quality wild ginseng is very expensive. Illegal
harvesting of wild ginseng from public lands is an
ongoing law enforcement problem for the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ginseng is a slow-growing plant that reaches a
height of 12–30 inches and produces red berries.
Only the root used for medicinal purposes. Ginseng
is difficult to cultivate. Plants must grow 4–6 years
before the roots can be harvested. Ginseng roots are
forked and twisted, looking somewhat like a miniature
human body. They are occasionally used fresh but
more often are dried and ground or powdered. The
root can be soaked to make an extract or tincture.
Ground ginseng can be added to tea and powered
ginseng put into capsules. Ginseng extract can be
added to products as diverse as chewing gum and
soft drinks. Ginseng is sold under dozens of different
brand names. It is often found in multi-herb remedies
sold under a huge variety of names. The active ingre-
dients of ginseng are thought to be more than twentycompounds called ginsenosides. Some manufacturers
standardize the amount of ginsengosides in their prod-
uct while others do not. Standardized products usually
contain 4–% ginsenosides.Regulation of ginseng sales
In the United States, ginseng is regulated by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a dietary
supplement under the 1994 Dietary Supplement
Health and Education Act (DSHEA). At the time the
act was passed, legislators felt because manydietary
supplementssuch as ginseng come from natural sour-
ces and have been used for hundreds of years by
practitioners of complementary and alternative medi-
cine (CAM), these supplements did not need to be
regulated as rigorously as prescription and over-the-
counter drugs used in conventional medicine.
The DSHEA regulates ginseng in the same way
that food is regulated. Like food manufacturers, man-
ufacturers of herbal products containing ginseng do
not have to prove that they are either safe or effective
before they can be sold to the public. This differs from
conventional pharmaceutical drugs, which must
undergo extensive human testing to prove their safety
and effectiveness before they can be marketed. Also
unlike conventional drugs, the label for a dietary sup-
plement such as ginseng does not have to contain any
statements about possible side effects. All herbal sup-
plements sold in the United States must show the
scientific name of the herb on the label. Consumers
should look for ginseng of thePanaxvariety. Some-
times less expensive herbs such as Siberian ‘‘ginseng’’
are substituted for true ginseng.Health claims
Dozens of health claims are made for ginseng,
many based on traditional or folk use of the herb.
These claims are difficult to substantiate in ways that
satisfy conventional medicine for several reasons
including:
The amount and strength of ginseng in dietary sup-
plements is not standardized and a wide range of
doses are used in different studies.
Ginseng is often one of several herbs contained in
herbal remedies, making it difficult to tell if the
effects are due to ginseng or another herb.
Many studies done on ginseng are poorly designed so
that it is impossible to show a direct link between
cause and effect, or they poorly reported, making
analysis of the results difficult.
Many rigorous and well-designed human studies
have a small sample size.Cultivated American gingseng.(JLM Visuals. Reproduced by
permission.)Ginseng