http://avlne.ws/1XWPVz8 via @asheville
Folklore has long said wild ginseng is good to boost energy, and
dealers have been willing to pay up to $700 per pound of the plant that
grows wild in Western North Carolina.
Now UNC Asheville
researchers are trying to unlock the chemical and genetic secrets of
wild ginseng, perhaps giving growers a better chance to produce a
wild-simulated ginseng.
UNCA biology faculty members Jonathan
Horton, David Clarke and Jen Ward started researching ginseng in 2008,
working closely with students. Their research got a big boost this year
with a $98,872 grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Part
of their research has focused on finding the specific genetic markers
in ginseng that identify those valuable medicinal compounds.
“We’re
potentially working with people at the North Carolina State University
Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center to do some
plant breeding to, hopefully, develop specific cultivars that might
produce specific medicinal compounds,” Horton said. “That is, obviously,
long term, but we’re hoping if we identify these markers, then we can
selectively breed plants to produce specific compounds, which might add
value to cultivated ginseng.”
Increasing the value of cultivated ginseng would help reduce the overharvesting and poaching of wild ginseng.
“We’ve
had students comparing the production of ginsenoside in different
organs of the plant,” Horton said. “The plants are primarily harvested
for the roots, but we were interested in seeing if the shoots and leaves
had adequate levels of ginsenoside.”
If those medicinal compounds
can be found in ginseng leaves and shoots, instead of just the roots,
ginseng could be harvested without destroying the plants.