Metabolomic profiling and biomedical potential of adventitious roots derived from a 150-year-old mountain ginseng

Abstract

Panax ginseng Meyer, sometimes known as Asian ginseng or Korean ginseng, is an important medicinal herb used in traditional medicine and health foods in Korea, China, and Japan. Ginsenosides, also known as saponins, are found in ginseng roots along with polysaccharides, peptides, amino acids, polyacetylene alcohols, polyphenolics, and essential oils. Ginseng’s primary pharmacological constituents are triterpene saponins, which are divided into three groups: the protopanaxadiol (PPD) type, which comprises Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rd, Rg3, Rh2, and others; the protopanaxatriol (PPT) type, which comprises Re, Rf, Rg1, Rg2, Rh1; and the oleanolic acid type, which comprises Ro and others. Ginsenosides have been shown to have increased immunity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective properties. A valuable and uncommon resource is wild mountain ginseng. For this study, we collected 150-year-old mountain ginseng (150y-Mg) and produced adventitious roots (150y-Mg-AR). The 150y-Mg-AR were grown in 1000-L industrial-scale bioreactors using MS medium containing 5% (w/v) sucrose and 5 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to produce biomass and ginsenosides. SNP genotyping using 192 markers showed 100% genotype concordance between 150y-Mg and the two independently analyzed 150y-Mg-AR samples. Of the 192 loci, 184 were homozygous, five were heterozygous, and three were null calls. The genetic fixation rate was therefore 97.4%, calculated as 184 homozygous loci among 189 callable non-null loci. LC–MS profiling showed clear differences among the analyzed materials. Within the present sample set, malonyl ginsenoside Rb2/Rb3 was detected in 150y-Mg but not in cultivated Panax ginseng (Pg), whereas ginsenosides XVII and F2 were detected in 150y-Mg-AR but not in Pg under the applied analytical conditions. These observations are interpreted as comparison-specific metabolite features rather than validated authentication markers. HPLC analysis further showed distinct quantitative ginsenoside patterns, and the in vitro assays provided preliminary evidence of anti-inflammatory and dermal papilla cell-proliferative activities. Adventitious roots derived from the 150-year-old mountain ginseng retained complete concordance across the tested SNP panel while exhibiting a culture-associated chemical profile. The LC–MS features observed in 150y-Mg and 150y-Mg-AR provide candidates for future validation across broader and independent ginseng cohorts, but the present data do not establish age-, habitat-, or lineage-specific authentication markers. The results support the feasibility of large-scale adventitious root production and provide a basis for subsequent chemical and functional validation.