Ginseng, the roots and rhizomes of Panax ginseng C.A.Mey., is widely distributed in northeast China, the Korean peninsula, and Russia. Ginseng has always been a valuable and important folk medicine for more than 2000 years in the East Asian countries. As listed in the literature, active constituents found in ginseng mainly include polysaccharides, ginsenosides, peptides, polyacetylenic alcohols, fatty acids and so on. In addition, pharmacological effects of ginseng have been demonstrated in cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular system, immune system, central nervous system, and so on.
1.Anti-aging activity. Ginsenosides Rb1 and Rg1 have been shown to accelerate memory acquisition of rats on a Y-maze task and they also enhanced the cognitive function of mice in a Morris water maze. Rg1 improved the scopolamine-induced impaired performance of rats in a radial-arm maze. Rb1 and its metabolite M1 were reported to improve memory disorders, axonal atrophy, and synaptic loss in a mouse model of Alzheimers disease (AD) that was induced by an i.c.v, injection of Aβ(25-35) . Ginsenosides Rg3(S) Rg5 and Rk1 significantly reversed the memory dysfunction induced by ethanol or scopolamine, and their neuroprotective actions against excitotoxicity may be attributed to their memory enhancing effects.