title: Determination of ginsenosides in Asian and American ginsengs by liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight MS: assessing variations based on morphological characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asian ginseng and American ginseng are functional foods that share a close genetic relationship and are well-known worldwide. This article aims to investigate the correlation between morphological characteristics and the inherent quality of Asian and American ginsengs.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, an ultra-HPLC-quadrupole/time-of-flight MS (UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS) method was established for the quantitative analysis of 45 ginseng samples. The method developed for determination was precise and accurate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that Asian ginseng samples with the same growing time (with the same or similar number of stem scars) that had a thinner main root, a longer rhizome and more branch roots contained greater amounts of ginsenosides. For American ginseng, two tendencies were observed in the relationship between the diameter of the main root and contents of ginsenosides. One tendency was that samples with thinner main roots tended to contain higher levels of ginsenosides, which was observed in the samples sold under the commercial namepao-shen. Another tendency was that samples with thicker main roots contained higher contents of ginsenosides, which was observed in the samples sold under the commercial namepao-mian, as well as in samples of American ginseng cultivated in Jilin, China.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An approach using ultra-HPLC-quadrupole/time-of-flight MS was successfully established to link morphology and active components for evaluating the quality of Asian and American ginsengs. Clear correlation between visible morphological features and quality of Asian and American ginsengs was found. People can see the difference; this means consumers and vendors can evaluate ginseng by themselves.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of R&D of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China; Department of Resources Science of Traditional Chinese Medicines, State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, China.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Research Center for Pharmacognosy, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhongzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Research Center for Pharmacognosy, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hubiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Resources Science of Traditional Chinese Medicines, State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, China.
authors.forename: Minjian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Research Center for Pharmacognosy, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhitao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
keywords: Panax ginseng; Panax quinquefolius; determination of ginsenosides; morphological characteristics; ultra-HPLC–quadrupole/time-of-flight MS