How to identify American ginseng?
Release date:2019-10-7
Panax quinquefolium is a common tonic herb. Its origin is Canada and the United States. Now it is cultivated in many places in China. How to identify American ginseng when choosing to buy, in order to buy authentic medicinal materials, to avoid pitting?
To distinguish between true and false American ginseng, first look at the shape. Panax quinquefolium is long conical, spindle or cylindrical, 3-12 cm long and 0.8-2 cm in diameter. The reed head is usually removed or remnant, with a light yellowish-brown or yellowish-white surface. Transverse rings and linear skin holes can be seen, with fine, shallow longitudinal wrinkles. Its cross-section is flat, light yellow-white, slightly powdery, yellow-brown punctate resin ducts can be seen in the skin, forming brown-yellow layer ring, wood has radiation texture.
Panax quinquefolium has a solid texture and is not easy to break. If you take it and smell it, you will feel a special smell. Then taste the slices. The taste of American ginseng is bitter, sweet and sweet. When purchasing, it's best to smell it first, then taste the taste of its pieces. If it's odorless, light and bitter, or sour and astringent, it's doubtful.
It is common to use ginseng to counterfeit American ginseng in the market. Many restaurants sell Panax quinquefolium soup and so on, which is cut into slices with some homemade sun-dried ginseng and wild soaked ginseng as Panax quinquefolium. From the appearance, ginseng has no special aroma of American ginseng, rough surface, yellow-white, thick and obvious longitudinal wrinkles, and transverse lengths of skin pores; lighter texture, flat cross-section, radiation texture is not obvious, with cracks. There are many transverse rings in wild ginseng, which are called "iron lines". This is a distinct difference between wild ginseng and American ginseng.
Other counterfeits include Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae and Angelicae Dahuricae. Salvia is conical or spindle-shaped, light, loose foam, easy to break, cross-section is not flat, but also many cracks, taste slightly sweet. The surface of Angelica dahurica has a transverse protuberance like a pit (Dingding), the top has leaf sheath marks and stem marks. The texture is crisp and light, the section is white, radiate, the skin is wide, the wood is small, can smell the fragrant and specific odor, bitter and slightly bitter, without the sweetness of Panax quinquefolium.