Panax
| Ginseng | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Panax quinquefolius foliage and fruit | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Aralioideae |
| Tribe: | Aralieae |
| Genus: |
Panax L. |
| Species | |
|
Subgenus Panax
Subgenus Trifolius |
|
Subgenus Panax
Subgenus Trifolius
Ginseng (/ˈdʒɪnsɛŋ/) is any one of the 11 species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae.
Ginseng is found in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly northeast China, Korea, Bhutan, eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates. Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng known. This article focuses on the species of the series Panax, called Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin.
Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is in the same family, but not genus, as true ginseng. The active compounds in Siberian ginseng are eleutherosides, not ginsenosides. Instead of a fleshy root, Siberian ginseng has a woody root.
Over centuries, ginseng has been used in Chinese traditional medicine. There is only limited evidence from modern research demonstrating that it has health benefits.
The English word ginseng derives from the Chinese term rénshēn. Rén means "Person" and shēn means "plant root"; this refers to the root's characteristic forked shape, which resembles the legs of a person. The English pronunciation derives from a southern Chinese reading, similar to Cantonese yun sum (Jyutping) and the Hokkien pronunciation "jîn-sim".
...
Wikipedia