''Panax notoginseng'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of the genus ''
Panax'', and it is commonly referred to in English as Chinese ginseng
[
*] or notoginseng. In Chinese it is called ''tiánqī'' (), tienchi ginseng, ''sānqī'' () or ''sanchi'', three-seven root, and mountain plant. ''P. notoginseng'' belongs to the same scientific genus as ''
Panax ginseng
''Panax ginseng'', ginseng, also known as Asian ginseng, Chinese ginseng or Korean ginseng, is a species of plant whose root is the original source of ginseng. It is a perennial plant that grows in the mountains of East Asia. It is mainly cultiv ...
''. In Latin, the word ''panax'' means "cure-all", and the family of
ginseng
Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefol ...
plants is one of the best-known herbs.
''P. notoginseng'' grows naturally in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. The herb is a perennial with dark green leaves branching from a stem with a red cluster of berries in the middle. It is both cultivated and gathered from wild forests, with wild plants being the most valuable. The Chinese refer to it as three-seven root because the plant has three petioles with seven leaflets each. It is also said that the root should be harvested between three and seven years after planting it.
Chinese medicine
In
traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...
, ''P. notoginseng'' is classified as
warm in nature. The taste is sweet and slightly bitter. A
decoction
Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal medicine systems. D ...
of 5-10 g is a typical dose. It can also be ground to a powder for swallowing directly or taken mixed with water. The dose in that case is usually 1-3 g.
Chemical components
''P. notoginseng'' contains
dammarane
Dammarane is a tetracyclic triterpene found in sapogenins (forming triterpenoid saponins) like those of ginseng (ginsenosides: panaxatriol
Panaxatriol is an organic compound that is an aglycone of ginsenosides, a group of steroid glycosides. I ...
-type
ginsenosides as major constituents. Dammarane-type ginsenosides includes 2 classifications: the 20(S)-
protopanaxadiol
Protopanaxadiol (PPD) is an organic compound that is an aglycone of ginsenosides, a group of steroid glycosides. It is a dammarane-type tetracyclic terpene sapogenin found in ginseng (''Panax ginseng'') and in notoginseng (''Panax pseudoginseng ...
(ppd) and 20(S)-
protopanaxatriol
Protopanaxatriol (PPT) is an organic compound that is an aglycone of ginsenosides, a group of steroid glycosides. It is a dammarane-type tetracyclic triterpene sapogenins found in ginseng (''Panax ginseng'') and in notoginseng (''Panax pseudogins ...
(ppt) classifications. ''P. notoginseng'' contains high levels of
Rb1, Rd (ppd classification) and Rg1 (ppt classification) ginsenosides. Rb1, Rd and Rg1 content of ''P. notoginseng'' is found to be higher than that of ''P. ginseng'' and ''P. quinquefolius'' in one study.
See also
* ''Panax pseudoginseng''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15551438
Panax, notoginseng
Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine