[MPWG] quick question about ginseng use

[Bob Beyfuss]

If you really want to get confused, go to Chinatown in NY City or San 
Francisco and see what the various ginseng products are called! American 
ginseng grown in China is often referred to as "China white" . "Korean 
ginseng" usually sells for far more than "Chinese ginseng" although both 
are P.ginseng. There are regional price differences among ginseng from 
different provinces and the dozens of separate grades make it even more 
interesting. And of course there is still some Siberian ginseng around 
although it is technically illegal to call Eleutherococcus or anything 
other than species of Panax as "ginseng", The Wisconsin ginseng growers 
managed to get this rule into the last farm bill. Everything you say below 
is technically correct as far as I know. It is the consumers who must wade 
through this stuff.  The next time someone trashes "ginseng" in the latest 
research designed to "prove" that it is "worthless", question the source of 
whatever they are testing. Even a "well designed", "double blind" study 
ends up as garbage if the inputs are garbage.



At 04:15 PM 11/15/2005, Steven Dentali, Ph.D. wrote:

>>You are correct about Panax ginseng being Asian ginseng, but not all 
>>ginseng grown in Korea is Korean ginseng or all ginseng grown in China 
>>Panax ginseng. The U.S. and Canada ship out seeds from American ginseng 
>>(Panax quinquefolium) to Korea and China in large amounts.
>>  ...
>>  There are many American growers now cultivating Panax ginseng from 
>> Korean ginseng seeds. Therefore, I must disagree with your statement 
>> that "It may be correctly referred to as Korean ginseng only if it's 
>> from (grown in) Korea."
>The use of "Korean" in Korean ginseng refers to where the Asian ginseng 
>was grown because Korean is not a recognized variety with it's own 
>separate common name. Let me explain.
>
>Panax ginseng is Asian ginseng and it can be carry a geographical modifier 
>indicating where it was grown (China, Korea, or even the US). If it were a 
>variety with a named location then the variety would retain that 
>geographical reference regardless of where it was grown. Herbs of Commerce 
>uses the following examples to illustrate this fact: "English walnuts 
>grown in California are English walnuts; Japanese honeysuckle from a 
>Chinese farm is Japanese honeysuckle." However the established common name 
>(according to HOC, which is officially adopted by FDA regulations for 
>dietary supplement labeling on Jan 1, 2006, see 
><http://www.ahpa.org/update_05_1107.htm>http://www.ahpa.org/update_05_1107.htm) 
>for Asian ginseng does not specify any further geographical source. 
>Therefore Asian ginseng is only appropriately considered as Korean when it 
>is grown in Korea.
>
>If American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is grown in China it could not 
>erroneously be called Chinese American ginseng though it would be less 
>confusing if it were termed as American ginseng grown in China. Assuming 
>one accepts this treatment of common name nomenclature then Korean ginseng 
>seeds are really Asian ginseng seeds from Korea ("Korean ginseng" not 
>being recognized as a separate variety of ginseng that is different from 
>the parent Asian ginseng). If American growers are growing Asian ginseng 
>seeds from Korea then they are producing Asian ginseng grown in America 
>with Korean seeds or perhaps Wisconsin (grown) Asian ginseng from seeds of 
>Korean origin. It's still Asian ginseng (but not Korean or Chinese) 
>regardless of where it is grown.
>
>I hope that  the differentiation of common names that contain a 
>geographical indicator and those that don't is helpful here.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Steven
>
>Steven Dentali, Ph.D.
>VP, Scientific and Technical Affairs
>American Herbal Products Association
>8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 370
>Silver Spring, MD  20910
>301.588.1171 x 103
>Fax: 301.588.1174
><http://www.ahpa.org>www.ahpa.org
>
>_______________________________________________
>MPWG mailing list
>MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
>http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org
>
>To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request at lists.plantconservation.org 
>with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>
>Disclaimer
>Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. 
>reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The 
>information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a 
>substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific 
>medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare 
>information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by 
>the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts 
>do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant 
>Conservation Alliance.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20051115/0cbe04a3/attachment.html>