Text of Speech
Theme: Effects of “Seosan Ginseng”
Nam Seong-Hee
Doctor of Agriculture
Vice President Woongjin Food Co.,Ltd.
Director of Research and Development Institute of Woongjin Food Co.,Ltd.
Author of “History of Korean Ginseng” and about 20 other books
Development:
Ginseng Jeonggwa
Ginseng Extracts
Ginseng Up
McCol
Gaeul Daechu(Autumn Date)
AchimHaetsal(Morning Sunlight)
ChorokMaesil(Green Apricot ), and so forth
Today is the Hangul Day designated to celebrate the creation of Hangul (Korean Alphabet) which is one of the cultural legacies Koreans are most proud of.
On this special occasion, I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all of you for presence, distinguished guests, especially diplomats from the embassies and consulates of about 180 countries in Korea and their family members, and other all guests from local and abroad. I am very pleased that we have this meaningful event which will show how much residents of Seosan cherish Korean Ginseng of which all Koreans are proud of and how much effort they are making to well preserve the internationally renowned precious cultural inheritance.
Korean Ginseng is widely known around the world, so if you’re from abroad, you might have heard about it, and have seen how much Koreans value Korean Ginseng in their daily life.
Records about Ginseng show that Koreans have eaten Ginseng from a long time ago. Records show that our ancestors traded Ginseng with the Chinese in 549 A.D, with the Dang Dynasty in 627 A.D. and with the Japanese in 739 A.D. Koreans already began to eat Ginseng from thousands of years ago, even trading Ginseng.
Like this, Ginseng was deeply rooted in the life of Koreans, becoming a precious legacy, a part of Korean culture, an important food for their health. Today’s Ginseng has been owing to our forefathers’ efforts to find it and hand it down to their descendants. Of course, citizens of Seosan, who instituted this FESTIVAL, have greatly contributed to the preservation of this cultural asset. Although Korean Ginseng is facing lots of challenges in the world market, I feel a sense of duty to overcome such obstacles and progress forward. Our forefathers and neighboring countries have loved Korean Ginseng not merely to preserve the cultural inheritance but because of important reasons. What are they?
One of the reasons is the effect of Ginseng. In the times when medical science was not well developed, people had to rely on medical resources in the nature. They fortunately found Ginseng is one of them. They came to know the excellent effects of Ginseng. From the time when the effects of Ginseng’s curing various kinds of diseases came to be known, its value began to be highly evaluated, raising its price higher. If the effect of Ginseng had been overvalued or insignificant, Ginseng might have discontinued to be used as a medicinal herb. Now as the effects of Ginseng began to be proved by scientific grounds, its effects have been praised more and more.
Man needs to consume foods unlike a robot which moves by electricity and machinery. We humans need nature-friendly foods to sustain life. The structure of our physical body is designed to do so. As science develops, the function, effect and safety of food will be studied more. It is really fortunate to have found natural herbs and vegetation like Ginseng for our health in these times when chemical foods which may cause various illnesses are flooding.
Another reason is the excellent quality of Korean Ginseng, which has received praises in the global market. Of course, there are Ginsengs in China, Japan, America, Canada, and so forth. They have their own characteristics. But the functions and effects of agricultural produce and herbs are different depending upon the climate, soils, environment and cultivation method for their growing. This is true of Ginseng. The typical Ginseng of America is Panax Quinquefolim L., the Chinese one is Panax Notoginseng(Burk) F. H. Chen, and the Japanese one is Panax Japonicus C.A.Meyer, but Korean Ginseng is Panax Ginseng C.A. Meyer. The usage and effects of these Ginsengs should be different according to their characteristics. Naturally, people will have different preferences for these. However, this important point is neglected, rather ignored in the market, confusing consumers due to exaggerated or misleading advertisements and marketing strategies. Even the market share rates are manipulated and national interests are placed above the real effects of Ginseng. This trend is spreading all over the world. This should be corrected.
Korean Ginseng has been sharing a great portion in the international Ginseng market and enjoying high evaluation. This is evidence that Korean Ginseng has been internationally competitive in terms of price, hygiene and quality.
Korean Ginseng shares over 30% of the total amount of Ginseng production, and is traded at higher prices than those of others in the world market. This is not merely due to results of marketing strategy but to its excellent quality and characteristics. In fact, in Korea, the Ginseng is thoroughly and strictly managed from the start of growing to the final stage of being merchandised. This resulted in an accumulation of know-how and experience of growing Ginseng.
Third, the climate of Korea is optimal for the growth of Ginseng from the northern tip of Baekdusan Mountain to the southern part. As going down toward the southern tip, the temperatures become warmer, which can cause Ginseng to be vulnerable to damages by blight and harmful insects, so those from the south fall in their economic value. The optimal areas for Korean Ginseng are in Latitude 36 to 38 degrees north. It takes 180 days Korean Ginseng to grow. This is in contrast with Ginsengs cultivated in other countries whose growth period is 120 to 130 days. Therefore, the textures of Korean Ginseng is delicate and full. The central area and Chungcheong-do Province are perfect for areas due to the optimal climate conditions, long praised as the best for Ginseng growing. As well known, the Seosan area has the good soils and climate conditions for garlic, rice, ginger, slated oyster, Oriental orchid, apple, pear and so forth, and especially the best for Ginseng cultivation. It’s natural that GOOD GINSENG is produced in this optimal environment.
According to the material published by the Office of Food and Pharmacy Safety, a total of 443 companies produced Ginseng as of the end of December of 2002. 116 of them are in this Chungnam Province, 26% of the total Ginseng producing companies in Korea. This proves that this region is the best for growing Ginseng.
Fourth, Korea is the front-runner of Ginseng research. Basic research on Ginseng is mainly on growing method and skills. Then more researches have been conducted on the effects of Ginseng focusing on finding out the cause substances for Ginseng’s effects. As a result, numerous ingredients have newly found out, and their chemical structures have been discovered. Brekhman, a Russian researcher, tried to interpret the effects of Ginseng in terms of Adaptogen. Now, not to mention the new substances of Ginseng and the findings of their molecular structures, efforts have been put forth to find out the live mechanism for such effects and prove them by using cutting-edge analytic instruments. I would like to take this opportunity to mention some examples of the effects of Ginseng which were found through clinical experiments.
First. One of them is effect on diabetes.
Glucokinase, Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, acetyl CoA carboxylase have been discovered to be active in Ginseng in addition to Ginsenoside Rb1 and Rg1, showing Ginseng strengthens high blood-sugar. Currently it is known that medicines for curing diabetes in general cause side effects such as low blood sugar, liver toxicity, weight increase, blood lactic acid, etc. And it is the global trend to use a mixture of medicines because one medicine is limited in maintaining normal blood sugar levels. So it is very desirable to develop an excellent medicine for diabetes with Ginseng and other natural substances. What is important is the cause substance from Ginseng is not explained only with the amount of saponin. Namely, the fact that the rate of saponin composition affects the effect implies that not any kind of Ginseng should not be prescribed for diabetes. In addition, 12 weeks’ clinical experiments on 28 girl students whose fat rate was 30% and higher showed Ginseng was effective in improving the serum lipid level as a result of observing the changes of the serum lipid level, weight and body lipid. Moreover, studies show that Ginseng has effect on sexual function improvement by increasing the amount of polyamine which is related to the reproductive ability in the prostate gland and testicles which is the reproduction organ of animals.
More than that, Ginseng is know to work against cancer although it is not used as a commercial pharmacy. Once a cancer has generated, it has already given a great damage to the body. However, Ginseng is judged to protect the body from the beginning stage of a cancer. That is, most anticancer chemicals curb the growth of cancer by working on the DNA. On the other hand, Rh1 and Rh2 extracted from Ginseng are reported to interfere with the process of signal transmission in the beginning of inducting the synthesis of DNA. Not only that but also researches show that Ginseng obstruct the activation of protein kinase which catalyzes the process of phosphoric acidification of protein in the signal transmission system. Moreover, Rg1 from Ginseng increases the calcium in macrophages and thus increase the activity of phagocytes, resulting in the increase of activity of macrophages’ eating off the tumor. Studies show that Ginseng extracts increased the multiplication of B and T lympocytes about two times and the capability of a Cytotoxic T lymphocyte three to four times. Ginsenoside Rb1, b2, g1, c, e, and so on are reported to increase Cytokine which plays an important role in activating immune cells. This means that Ginseng activates the immune system and is related to anticancer effect as well. When beaming radioactive rays additionally, it is reported that Ginseng reduces the deaths of cells, protects the blood forming organs and functions restoration.
It is very fortunate that Ginseng like this is proved to have effect on curing various diseases which are common to modern days’ people. So more researches should be conducted on Ginseng in the future. But sadly, there are some people who think that Ginseng is only an Oriental medicinal herb, claiming that it is only considered to be mysterious by Orientals, although they do not know much about Ginseng. Even among people who claim they know well about Ginseng, there are people who recognize major effects of Ginseng but disregard Ginseng as not having effect on a disease once generated, so seeking more effective curing methods. In the reality no body can escape birth and death, our health should be safeguarded and built up when we are in good shape. This is one of the best ways to live well, I believe.
Of course, Ginseng is not a panacea or cure-all. In fact, there is no cure-all yet in this world today. However, there can hardly be found a plant which has as many medicinal effects effect as Ginseng has on this earth. Nevertheless, Ginseng is not used as an authorized medicine not because Ginseng’s effects are less than others but because new pharmacies have been rapidly developed, which give direct and fast effects on diseases. Another reason is that Ginseng’s effects work slowly through the metabolic system and its ingredients are low in concentration despite numerous effective substances. But it has been proved for ages that Ginseng very powerfully works for human body. Furthermore, from a long-term perspective, various effective substances of low concentration can be rather more beneficial in preventing disease and maintaining good health except for cases which require an immediate effect.
Moreover, it has been proved for a long time that Ginseng has no such side effects as chemical pharmacies have. Yes, Ginseng has been proved to be safe. So if the various beneficial substances of Ginseng are used in making other pharmacies to minimize their side effects, better medicines with quick and safe performances will be able to be produced. As we briefly considered, Ginseng has much more effects which need to be studied and is very beneficial to us.
Koreans have loved Ginseng more than anyone else. We Koreans have cherished and valued Ginseng, so we have experienced many good effects of Ginseng. In the meantime, it is true that Ginseng has been overestimated from words of mouth as an all-cure. But modern science has proved beneficial effects of Ginseng, and many are still studying on effects of Ginseng. We are confident much more and much better effects of Ginseng will be revealed in the future. It is surprising people around the world that a kind of plant, Ginseng, has so many effects and substances. But we, Koreans, know Ginseng and have confidence in Ginseng. We have made know Ginseng far and wide because we have experienced effects of Ginseng. As a result, many studies are made on Ginseng earth-wide.
For example, Wisconsin State of America has a seal program for Ginseng, making efforts to pioneer overseas markets and to control the quality. They issue the certificate of their home production Ginseng to prevent their good quality Ginseng from being mixed with others and to advertise the superiority of their home products.
Korea too has been implementing TRIPS system or Trade Related Intellectual Properties System which is a system of certifying the quality of agricultural produce since 1998. USDA or the United States Department of Agriculture has established Insam Program to support Ginseng marketing.
I know the current domestic and overseas difficult economic situations of Ginseng, but I am not pessimistic. I am optimistic. I would like to emphasize that we have the duty and reason to go forward because our forefathers too have faced difficulties and solved them concerning Ginseng trades. They developed better-quality Ginseng and Ginseng products with differentiated production and processing technologies and know-how. They ceaselessly did research for Ginseng with love for it. We inherited our forefather’s wisdom, technology and the good quality Ginseng they developed.
Residents of Seosan are not alone in making a new leap for the future. So small efforts of all together will be able to solve the problems we are facing now and we will encounter in the future, and thus we will keep going forward, surely making our Ginseng be loved by people of the world. I am sure that our Ginseng will become a model to contribute to the globalization of Korean Ginseng and to the good health of people all over the world.
If we continue to preserve and hand down our culture and concentrate our efforts to make our Ginseng remain as a global cultural legacy, our Ginseng will surely greatly contribute to the good health of people around the world.
On this meaningful occasion, I would like to express thanks again to diplomats of various countries and their family members, distinguished quests from local and abroad, and Mayor of Seosan City and city officials, and the president of the Ginseng Co-operative and its members for presence at this event. Now I would like to extend applause of encouragement to all for efforts and contributions in the Ginseng industry. Finally, I wish good health and happiness for you all. Thank you.
