A Survey on the Content and Safety of Red Ginseng Products

Abstract

This survey was conducted to monitor the safety of red ginseng products in Gwangju, in 2010. Among 100 samples, 37 were beverages, 5 were functional health foods on the market, and 58 were beverages from a tailor-made shop. All samples were negative for coliform bacteria. Aerobic plate counts were detected from 13 samples in the 58 tailor-made products but not detected in the other types of products. Benzoic acid was detected in 5 samples (range, 19.2-543.0 mg/kg). Among heavy metals, lead was detected, ranging from 28.8-62.3 µg/kg, cadmium, from 1.15-4.18 µg/kg, and mercury from 0.10-0.18 µg/kg. Benzopyrene was not detected in any samples. Ginsenoside Rg1 and Rb1 were detected in 0.1-23.4 mg/90 mL of beverages and 12.1-66.8 mg/90 mL of functional health foods. These results indicate that red ginseng products are safe in terms of microbial contaminants and hazardous chemical compounds such as heavy metals and benzopyrene.

Manufacture and characterization of optimized red ginseng drinks containing herbal medicine extracts

“…The effect of decreasing insulin secretion results in many changes in glucose metabolism, such as the conversion of the main energy source of skeletal muscle to fat. Red ginseng caused a decrease in insulin content in our study that was similar to results described in a previous report (Kim et al, 2011a;2011b).…”

“…Glucose tolerance improved in the herbal medicine supplement group (Table 4). As described in previous studies, red ginseng components significantly contributed to the hypoglycemic effect, as seen in the results from the present study (Kim et al, 2011a;2011b;Lee et al, 1998).…”

“…Studies on functional drinks containing red ginseng have been actively investigated. Kim et al (2011a;2011b) presented data on the content and safety of red ginseng beverages. The anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory effects of red ginseng beverages have been reported (Park et al, 2010).…”

Microbial Contamination Levels of Ginseng and Ginseng Products Distributed in Korean Markets

“…인삼의 주요 성분은 사포닌(3-6%), 비타민(0.05%), 탄수화물(60-70%) 및 회분(4-6%) 등이며, 신체의 항상성 유지, 항암, 항스트레스, 간기능개선, 혈압조절, 노화억제 등과 같은 우 수한 약리작용을 가지고 있어 의약품으로 사용되는 것은 물론 인삼차, 음료와 같은 기호성이 강조된 건강식품으로 도 발전되어 다양한 가공식품이 개발·이용되고 있다 2,3,4) . 우리나라의 인삼 생산액은 2001년에 3,735억원 이었던 것 이 2011년에는 9,510억원으로, 수출액은 2001년에 7,400 만불이었던 것이 2011년은 18,900만불로 10년 동안 2배 이상 증가하였다 5) .…”