| Panax Ginseng C. A. Mey., and P. quinquefolium L., and /! Notoginseng (Burk) F.H.Chen are three major perennial herbal plants in Panax Araliaceae family.Ginseng mainly distributes in Changbai Mountains in the northeast of China, has been used for thousands of years as one of the vital Chinese herbal plants. Ginseng, usually referring to the roots of Panax Ginseng C.A.Meyer, is held in high esteem in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). According to literature, Ginseng has been known in Chinese ethnopharmacology for more than 4000 years. The Chinese writing on Material Medical-"Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing", according to which Ginseng had been recorded, classified Ginseng as one of the super herbs in terms of its clinic effects. There was mentioned that "Ginseng is used for strengthening five viscera, harmonizing energies, soothing the soul, allaying fear, removing toxic substances, brightening the eyes, vitalizing the heart and improving thoughts." Continuous use will invigorate the body and prolong life. Henceforth the books on Material Medical, written in different ancient dynasties, all contained the description regarding medicinal use of Ginseng.Up to now the medicinal use of Ginseng has been adequately explored not only in China, Korea and Japan, but also in the former Soviet Union and the United States. A large number of articles based on original research of Ginseng have been published and numerous international Ginseng symposiums have been held. So far, great achievements have been made on the botany, chemistry, pharmacology and clinical application, etc. And new findings have been constantly achieved.It was not until 1970 that a breakthrough was made in the study of chemical constituents of Ginseng with the development of modern science and technology. Successfully the structures of chief ginsenosides were established by Shibata et al. Up to now more than fifty kinds of individual ginsenosides were isolated from the whole plant of Ginseng. Besides, the polysaccharides, polypeptides, essential oil etc. were also systematically investigated. Modern pharmacological study suggests that Ginseng is an adaptogen that is similar with the Chinese medicines of immunity improvement and disease elimination. The chief biological active principles in Ginseng are ginsenosides. However some pharmacological effects of one individual ginsenosides are not much consistent, even opposite to another. Each ginsenoside keeps its own delimitation in pharmacological effect on body. For example, ginsenoside-Rbi has a property of stimulation, whereas ginenoside-Rb2 has a property of tranquilization. Therefore, in current researches it becomes important to explore the biological activities of individual ginsenosides, which is also an effective method to develop new drugs from natural medicines. Recently some novel compounds in Ginseng have been discovered or are being discovered for new drugs. With the support of the Tenth Five-year Plan on the quality standardization of commonly used TCM, the chemical constituents of P. Ginseng, and the pharmacological activities of ginsenosides were investigated and some heartening outcomes were gained to make considerable headway in this fields.American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) distributes in United States of America andCanada. In 1675 Russian scientists, and in 1716 a Frenchman Farthe Lafiteau found American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.), genus Panax Araliaceae family in Canada, in the light of records and some specimen. American Ginseng has been introduced into China for 300 years. Because of its special properties and functions, it is widely accepted in the world. Its chemical constituents are really complicated, including ginsenosides, essential oil, amino acid, polysaccharides, and polypeptides, of which ginsenosides as the main composition. The research on American Ginseng can be traced back to the nineteenth century. As early as 1854, American researchers isolated the first ginsenoside, while a comprehensive study began in 1970s. Till now, three types of &JL, have been isolate...
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