Ginseng Differentiation
Panax ginseng (Asian ginseng) and Panax quinquefolius
(American ginseng)
Quick Procedure for Differentiating Asian and American
Ginseng
Add 0.5 g powdered ginseng and 10 mL 70% Ethanol to glass
test tube
Cap the tube; invert to mix
Repeat for all reference materials/samples
Sonicate at 50C for 30 minutes
Allow to stand 5 minutes to settle
Filter supernatant thru PTFE filter (0.45 micron)
Fill cuvette
Measure UV-Vis absorbance from 200-500 nm using a scanning
spectrophotometer
(Note: If detector maximum is exceeded, sample is too
concentrated – dilute and retest)
Investigate plot of scanned data
American ginseng contains three peaks, while Asian ginseng
has only one
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