Purpose: Ginseng has been used as a tonic to improve overall health, restore balance in the body, help the body to heal itself, reduce stress, boost energy, and enhance the immune system. The aim of this review was to assess current evidence that ginseng improves sperm quality. Materials and Methods: We searched twelve databases (PubMed, EMBASE, AMED, the Cochrane Library, five Korean medical databases, and three Chinese medical databases), using a cut-off date of 1st December 2019. We included clinical studies in which healthy men or men with fertility issues were treated with ginseng. We used Cochrane's risk of bias (ROB) tool to assess the ROB in the studies examined. Results: From two-hundred and nineteen potentially eligible studies, just five relevant studies were selected (two randomized clinical trials [RCTs], one controlled clinical trial [CCT], and two observational studies). Of these studies, one RCT reported some positive results when using Korean red ginseng to improve sperm quality in infertile men. In addition, the other RCT reported that the effects of ginseng on sperm quality were equivalent to those found when valerian tablets are taken by healthy people. One CCT and two uncontrolled observational studies, however, did not demonstrate the clear effectiveness of ginseng in improving sperm quality in infertile men. Conclusions: Currently, there are few trials investigating the efficacy of ginseng for improving sperm quality. The available studies demonstrate a high ROB. It can be suggested that overall, the evidence regarding ginseng improving sperm quality is limited.

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To increase the consumption of white ginseng (WG), we evaluated the bioactive components and antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained after supplementation with 0, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0% Adenophora triphylla var. japonica Hara leaf (ATL). The total polyphenol (TP) and total flavonoid (TF) contents of white ginseng extracted without ATL (WA1) were 0.67±0.11 mg･GAE/mL and 1.16±0.08 mg･QE/100 mL, respectively, and the TP and TF content of the ATL extract were 10.22±0.24 mg･GAE/mL and 145.67±8.17 mg･QE/100 mL, respectively. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of DPPH was determined to be 189.48±1.74 μL/mL in the WA3 extract (2.5% ATL), whereas the IC50 obtained with ABTS was 71.01±2.97 μL/mL in the WA4 extract (5.0% ATL), imparting a synergistic effect more than twice exerted by WA1. The total ginsenoside and β-carotene contents were determined to be in the range 1.00∼1.06 mg/mL and 0.64∼1.26 μg/mL, respectively, in the WA4∼WA6 extracts (supplemented with 5∼10% ATL). Total polyphenol, total flavonoid, total ginsenoside content, and antioxidant activities were found to be highly correlated with WG extract supplemented with 5∼10% ATL. Taken together, our results indicate a potential to develop a beneficial new WG extract supplemented with ATL.

This study was designed according to the central synthetic design method of the response surface methodology using Chrysanthmi Flos water extract (CFEX), red ginseng concentrate (RGCON), and honey. The aim was to develop a red ginseng stick product (25°Brix) with improved antioxidant activity achieved by CFEX supplementation. The antioxidant activities of the groups treated with CFEX, RGCON, and honey were evaluated by DPPH, ABTS, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and Fe 2+ chelating activity. The mixing conditions of the optimized modeling product with improved antioxidant activity were determined to be 11.18 g RGCON, 8.05 g CFEX, and 0.39 g honey, mixed and dissolved in 25 g of water to make 25°Brix. The ABTS radical scavenging activity (at 120 times dilution), DPPH radical scavenging activity (at 40 times dilution), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (at 20 times dilution) and Fe 2+ chelating activity (at 20 times dilution) for the optimized modeling product were 89.83%, 81.44%, 17.21%, and 7.54%, respectively. Compared to the control red ginseng extract (25°Brix, 13.89 g RGCON＋25 g water), improved antioxidant activities of the optimized modeling product (11.18 g RGCON＋8.05 g CFEX＋0.39 g honey+25 g water) were obtained. ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities were also determined to be improved, by about 12% and 9%, respectively.

Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium), though it is a medicinal and dye crop, can also be grown in temperate areas, especially because it is commonly disseminated in Japan. To date, much research has been considered under investigation, especially for the regeneration of the indigo plant. Here in this study, we investigated the response of sucroses and gelling agents on the shoot organogenesis of the indigo plant. Micropropagation in terms of shoot regeneration and its growth was highly responded to sucrose and gelling agents. While culturing of internode explants on initial shoot regeneration media supplemented with sucrose and gelling agents of phytagar and gelrite significantly upgraded the regeneration efficiency as well as shoot growth. The regeneration capacity of the shoot was augmented with increased levels of sucrose up to 40 g L-1 and then started to decrease, whereas the increasing pattern continued even at the highest concentration (50 g L-1). The highest shoot regeneration (6.0 ± 0.5) was achieved by the treatment of 40 g L-1 giving 7.5 times higher shoot regeneration compared to the control. The increasing pattern for shoot length was more pronounced than that of shoot regeneration. The shoot length ranged from 10.2 mm to 23.5 mm within the sucrose treatments. In this study, the highest shoot length (23.5± 0.21) was observed by the treatment of 50 g L-1 exhibiting 2.3 times higher shoot length compared to the control. Gelling agent gelrite performed better than phytagar for both regeneration and shoot length growth. The shoot regeneration among the phytagar treatments ranged from 3.8 to 6.0 shoots/explant whereas the shoot regeneration ranged from 6.6 to 7.2 among the gelrite treatments. The highest shoots/explant (7.2) and the longest shoot length (22.4 mm) were observed due to the treatment of gelrite 3. The lowest shoot regeneration and shoot length were denoted when phytagar 9 was applied. It is proposed from our study that sucrose and gelling agent especially gelrite 3 could be applied in shoot organogenesis and plant transformation of any plant species, especially for P. tinctorium.