摘要
Background:Previous studies showed that New Zealand-grown ginseng contains an abundance of ginsenosides and that rare less polar ginsenosides,such as Rg3,exhibit more pharmacological activities than polar ginsenosides,which are the major components of ginseng.Methods:The ginsenoside profile of New Zealand-grown Panax ginseng was manipulated by treatment with acetic acid,sodium hydroxide,pH,and high temperature.The abundance of 23 ginsenosides extracted by different treatments was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography.Results:Treatment with 0.5 mol/L acetic acid can stimulate the degradation of polar ginsenosides to less polar ginsenosides(5.6%Rg3 was accumulated,P<0.0001).Furthermore,when ginseng root was treated at 121℃ for 100 min in a pH 3.0 acetic acid aqueous solution,the majority of the polar ginsenosides were converted into less polar ginsenosides.Specifically,83.46±3.69%(P=0.0360)of the less polar ginsenosides and 41.01±2.39%(P=0.0412)of Rg3 were enriched.In contrast,alkali treatment did not convert the polar ginsenosides into less polar ginsenosides at mild temperature and less conversion was observed compared with acid treatment at high temperature.Conclusion:This is the first attempt to manipulate the ginsenoside profile of New Zealand-grown ginseng.The conditions(high temperature with low pH)may be modified to produce and enrich the less polar ginsenoside fraction(especially Rg3)from the total ginseng extract.
