Korean Red Ginseng...where to buy it in natural form?
- Thread starter InTheBum
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not sure why anyone would want asian ginseng in natural form, they use night soil as fertilizer in asia and the e coli problem is huge (lethal)
when they dry herbs, part of the reason is to bring the temperature up high enough to kill all bacteria through the drying process
some of the local ginseng growers who had bad years exporting began selling fresh ginseng at TNT locally.
since then there seems to be a bit of a following for fresh product but even from here there is a big problem with e coli potential. if you boil it in soup it might be ok but the more reuputable growers will never sell ginseng fresh because of the health risk
advise you to look into this and be carefull, most recent asian immigrants will import and sell anything without regard to our health standards (some really great things are coming over too, so its a good and bad situation)
when they dry herbs, part of the reason is to bring the temperature up high enough to kill all bacteria through the drying process
some of the local ginseng growers who had bad years exporting began selling fresh ginseng at TNT locally.
since then there seems to be a bit of a following for fresh product but even from here there is a big problem with e coli potential. if you boil it in soup it might be ok but the more reuputable growers will never sell ginseng fresh because of the health risk
advise you to look into this and be carefull, most recent asian immigrants will import and sell anything without regard to our health standards (some really great things are coming over too, so its a good and bad situation)
If you want the pure form without the risk as noted above, go online and see if you can locate companies who sell ginseng to companies like GNC as a ingredient. It will be powdered, but will have a certificate with it that identifies the date it was processed and the testing for bacterial counts.
The only difference between the whole root and powder is water.
The only difference between the whole root and powder is water.
Korean ginseng concentrate
Not sure if this helps or not, but I was in Korea last year and we shopped for ginseng. According to my in-laws, most koreans use the highly concentrated red ginseng paste for making their herbal teas, rather than the actual dry root.
We also drove by acres upon acres of cultivated ginseng fields and I am certain that they don't use night soil for fertilizer simply because there were just too many acres growing with too few inhabitants nearby. The fields reminded me of the farm fields of California where grapes or fruit orchards can seem to go on to the horizon. They also cover the growing ginseng with a black plastic tarp because apparently the ginseng need to be shielded from the sun and in a warmer environment in order to gain greater potency. The Korean ginseng industry is nationalized and all the ginseng are processed under strict regulations. South Korea is a very clean country. This is in sharp contrast to China. I don't know how BC ginseng compares to korean ginseng, especially since now a lot of koreans are cultivating it here.
Anyway, I think I have an extra jar of the ginseng concentrate, if you really need it. But it was very expensive. like around US$200 for what looks like a jar of strawberry jam. Kinda like a typical KGFE.
Not sure if this helps or not, but I was in Korea last year and we shopped for ginseng. According to my in-laws, most koreans use the highly concentrated red ginseng paste for making their herbal teas, rather than the actual dry root.
We also drove by acres upon acres of cultivated ginseng fields and I am certain that they don't use night soil for fertilizer simply because there were just too many acres growing with too few inhabitants nearby. The fields reminded me of the farm fields of California where grapes or fruit orchards can seem to go on to the horizon. They also cover the growing ginseng with a black plastic tarp because apparently the ginseng need to be shielded from the sun and in a warmer environment in order to gain greater potency. The Korean ginseng industry is nationalized and all the ginseng are processed under strict regulations. South Korea is a very clean country. This is in sharp contrast to China. I don't know how BC ginseng compares to korean ginseng, especially since now a lot of koreans are cultivating it here.
Anyway, I think I have an extra jar of the ginseng concentrate, if you really need it. But it was very expensive. like around US$200 for what looks like a jar of strawberry jam. Kinda like a typical KGFE.
Red Ginseng from Korea is steamed after picking so bacteria problems would be very low. I know some people have tried to grow Asian ginseng here but costs are cheaper in Asia so I do not know why they would bother. Seed stock is very hard to get and very expensive.
The shade cloth you see is actually a webbing which simulates the shade in a forest which is where natural Ginseng grows. It is best cultivated in dry areas where moisture content can be controlled, mold and mildew is the biggest problem with Ginseng growing.
In Asia the pesticide and herbicides used are up to 100 times the allowable limit in North America. Part of the problem with developing nations is the lack of standards used in the agriculture industry (DDT for instance) Since Ginseng is the most expensive legal crop in the world (aside from maybe saffron) growers will do anything to improve production and profit.
Only in North America and Europe do you have agricultural standards and legal liability process to ensure safe products. Things are improving in Asian but how do you know as a consumer that a good grower’s Ginseng vs. a bad grower’s Ginseng ended up in the bottle. You have no tracing back to farms through the process of producers, bottlers (encasulators) and labelers.
The powdered Ginseng is made from drying and grinding the small fibers or thread like mini roots attached to the main root. These are a byproduct of the whole root which is more popular in Asia. The Asians like to see what they are getting when they buy, not some powder which has been cut with some other powder. It so happens that the active ingredients in Ginseng are more concentrated in the fibers so the powder they sell as Ginseng tea is actually more potent than the whole root. Most North Americans prefer powder in capsules or loose for brewing tea. The shaved flakes are popular in Asia but are shaved in front of the customer at the herbal shop so no substitutes can be added. Here the growers don’t cut their product and some sell direct to the public which might be the best source to buy from.
The only way to tell if you are getting the real thing is to by a standardized extract. This means the Ginseng constituents have been extracted and tested to meet a known standard set by the pharmacopeias association. If you extract constituents from a plant you get an extract. If you test it to comply with a standard it becomes a standardized extract, and if you separate constituents you get a drug.
Beware of counterfeits; we have had snake oil sold to people for hundreds of years and things are still the same. What it does for you and what is in the bottle are difficult to prove.
The shade cloth you see is actually a webbing which simulates the shade in a forest which is where natural Ginseng grows. It is best cultivated in dry areas where moisture content can be controlled, mold and mildew is the biggest problem with Ginseng growing.
In Asia the pesticide and herbicides used are up to 100 times the allowable limit in North America. Part of the problem with developing nations is the lack of standards used in the agriculture industry (DDT for instance) Since Ginseng is the most expensive legal crop in the world (aside from maybe saffron) growers will do anything to improve production and profit.
Only in North America and Europe do you have agricultural standards and legal liability process to ensure safe products. Things are improving in Asian but how do you know as a consumer that a good grower’s Ginseng vs. a bad grower’s Ginseng ended up in the bottle. You have no tracing back to farms through the process of producers, bottlers (encasulators) and labelers.
The powdered Ginseng is made from drying and grinding the small fibers or thread like mini roots attached to the main root. These are a byproduct of the whole root which is more popular in Asia. The Asians like to see what they are getting when they buy, not some powder which has been cut with some other powder. It so happens that the active ingredients in Ginseng are more concentrated in the fibers so the powder they sell as Ginseng tea is actually more potent than the whole root. Most North Americans prefer powder in capsules or loose for brewing tea. The shaved flakes are popular in Asia but are shaved in front of the customer at the herbal shop so no substitutes can be added. Here the growers don’t cut their product and some sell direct to the public which might be the best source to buy from.
The only way to tell if you are getting the real thing is to by a standardized extract. This means the Ginseng constituents have been extracted and tested to meet a known standard set by the pharmacopeias association. If you extract constituents from a plant you get an extract. If you test it to comply with a standard it becomes a standardized extract, and if you separate constituents you get a drug.
Beware of counterfeits; we have had snake oil sold to people for hundreds of years and things are still the same. What it does for you and what is in the bottle are difficult to prove.
go down to the nearest GNC and pick up a bottle of ARGINMAX. its mainly a health supplement but will work for what you need and it has plenty of korean Red ginseng and L-Arginine.
do not use if you have any heart problems or had previously had a heart attack.
do not use if you have any heart problems or had previously had a heart attack.
