What is Ginseng? Why is it so valuable and what is the link between its science and technology?.
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 wrinkly and furrowed. The roots are fleshy, pungent and usually bifurcate (divides into two peaks of forks). The age of the plant can be determined by looking to see how many "rings" are on the roots surface. Rings are old wrinkles running along the root that appear on the shrinking root. Another means of finding the age of the root is by counting the number of stem scars on the rhizome, considering that ginseng only produces one stem shoot for each growing season. Establishing the age of the herb and its roots is extremely important. The older the roots the more it is worth on the market. The average price of ginseng root if US$62.47 per pound. .
The ginseng plant is long lived, it has a life span of thirty to three hundred years old.