A more sustainable cultivation method for medicinal ginseng

Added on 05 July 2024

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A more sustainable cultivation method for medicinal ginseng

Photo: WUR

Ginseng has a number of medicinal properties, such as strengthening the immune system. However, the cultivation of ginseng is complex: they grow in endemic ecological places and experience high disease pressure, which has resulted in high pesticide use and reduction of key ingredients. The Greenhouse Horticulture and Flower Bulbs Business Unit of Wageningen University & Research is developing a cultivation method for 'American ginseng'. Researcher Natalia Moreno: “Consumers worldwide use ginseng. It is great to be able to contribute to a better and more sustainable cultivation method for this product.”

Ginseng is the root of the Panax plant. There are two varieties used for their medicinal properties: Asian ginseng (P. ginseng) and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius). The Asian variant is endemic to the mountains in Asia. American ginseng grows in the forests of north America and Canada and can be cultivated in semi-open fields under shadow cloth and is therefore more commercially interesting. But the cultivation of American ginseng takes a long time and the quality of the product cannot be consistently ensured, due to high disease pressure and variation of the content of key ingredients.