Herbal and Pharmacological effects of Ginseng Radix and Strategy for Future Research

인삼의 본초 및 약리 효능과 향후 연구방향

For the purpose of wide application of Korea Ginseng Radix (KGR) as a tonic and medicinal drug, bibliographical study on Ginseng Radix (GR) was done about its herbal and pharmacological effects known so far. Herbal effect of GR was studied in 28 classical books including Shennongbencaojing(신농본초경), the oldest herbal book in oriental medicine and also its pharmacological effects was compared with its herbal effect. In bibliographical study 38 kinds of efficacies of GR were referred in those books, for example, in fields of gastrointestinal tract, heart, psychology, body fluid, hormone and respiratory tract in order from statistical analysis. GR was chiefly used for supplementing Qi, vital energy in oriental medicine. However, experimental study on respiratory diseases was not reported except lung cancer yet, while GR was used for the treatment of asthma mostly mixed with other herb in oriental medicine. So far research with GR was performed chiefly for isolation of constituents as saponins and evaluation of its efficacy experimentally by KGTR (Korea Ginseng Tobacco Research Institute). From the above studies, to make KGR used widely than before, I suggest study with KGR should be done according to oriental principles such as Qi and tasters and combination theory between herbs excepting typical analytical research with saponins.