Ginseng's Research History, From Legend to American Export
Ginseng's documented history runs from a legendary emperor's treatise to a 1784 American cargo and 1960s sapogenin chemistry. The human trials are less settled than that trade record, and the reviews say so plainly.
The history of ginseng starts with a legend, runs through a Jesuit letter and an American cargo, and reaches the chemistry of the 1960s. The human trials are a separate chapter, and the evidence there is less settled than the trade record. ## A treatise under a legendary emperor A 2012 history article says ginseng was among the plants credited to Shen-Nung, whom it calls one of China's mythical emperors. The article names his treatise as the Shen Nung Benchau Jing ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-1591.94946)). A legend's date is not the text's date, and the sources checked here do not date the treatise, so this post does not give one. ## A letter from Peking, read in London in 1714 Father Pierre Jartoux, a Jesuit writing from Peking, described a ginseng plant he had observed in a Tatar village near the Korean border, along with uses that Chinese physicians made of it. The Royal Society Archives dates the letter to 12 April 1711 and records that it was read to the Society on 4 March 1714 ([Royal Society Archives](https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_10i_42)). It was published in the Society's Philosophical Transactions ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1098/rstl.1713.0025)). The archive record does not name the plant's species, so this post does not assign one to it. ## Ships, ginseng and the 1784 voyage In a 1791 letter to Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Randall, who sailed on the 1784 voyage, called the Empress of China "the first ship that ever sailed from the United States for China." Her cargo, he wrote, included "about four hundred peculs" of ginseng, a pecul being about 133 pounds ([Founders Online](https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-09-02-0040)). Randall's market table puts the Empress of China's share at 445 peculs out of 890 at Canton that season. Samuel Shaw, the supercargo who sailed with him, is quoted in the letter's notes as saying the ship was "loaded principally with ginseng, in order to exchange it for teas and manufactures of that country." Randall also described the trade's setting. The Chinese government placed it in the hands of eight Hong merchants, and he wrote that ginseng paid a duty of sixty dollars a pecul to the emperor, according to what he was told in Canton. Prices moved fast. Randall wrote that ginseng had sold for 3,000 dollars a pecul in 1783 and for 150 to 350 dollars in 1784. For the 1786 to 1787 season, he reported upwards of 2,000 peculs at Canton, selling for 150 to 200 dollars. In 1789 another large supply arrived, and the price fell to 55 dollars, with payment taken in tea. By 1791 he judged that "the trade is on the decline." He also set the American root against the "Tartary" root, which he wrote "still sells for nearly its weight in gold." ## Wild roots and the modern trade In a July 2015 factsheet, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) grows in forests from the Midwest to Maine, and that most wild roots harvested in the United States are shipped to Hong Kong and China. It puts the wholesale value at roughly $27 million a year ([USFWS factsheet](https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/factsheet-american-ginseng-harvesters-dealers-exporters.pdf)). American ginseng has been listed under CITES Appendix II since 1975, so whole and sliced roots need an export permit, and export roots must come from plants at least five years old. ## Two species, and chemistry older than the trials A 2017 review names the two species as Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius, and says intestinal biotransformation processes ginsenosides into metabolites with high pharmacological activity ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.07.019)). A 2020 review adds that North American ginseng appears as roots, extracts, dietary supplements and energy drinks ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25245854)). According to PubMed, a group led by S. Shibata reported on panaxadiol, a sapogenin from ginseng roots, in 1963 ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1248/cpb.11.762)), and on the structure of panaxatriol in 1965 ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0040-4039(01)99595-4)). That chemistry is older than the trial reviews below. For another traditional herb traced from tradition to the lab, see the [turmeric history](/blog/history/history-of-turmeric-and-curcumin-from-ayurveda-to-isolation). ## What the trials show Two systematic reviews of placebo-controlled trials in menopausal women show the current evidence. A 2022 review of 15 randomized trials found that ginseng reduced menopausal symptoms and hot flashes in pooled analyses, but could not show a benefit for sexual function. Its authors wrote that more rigorous trials are needed ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101615)). A 2016 review of ten double-blind trials found that most had unclear risk of bias, and it rated the level of evidence for its findings as low ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000004914)). ## What the sources do not settle - The date of the treatise linked to Shen-Nung. The sources checked give a legendary attribution and no text date. - The 1716 American find often linked to a Jesuit named Lafitau. That date is not verified here, so this post does not use it. - Export volumes and wild harvest in the 1800s. The sources checked cover 1784 to 1791 and a 2015 factsheet, not the nineteenth century. - Single trial results. This post reports the two reviews' findings, not individual trials, sponsors or doses. - Ginseng's cellular effects. For that research area, see the [mitochondrial health guide](/health/mitochondrial-health-complete-guide). ## Bottom line The trade record is the best documented part of ginseng's history. It starts with Randall's figures, which show a market that fell from 3,000 dollars a pecul to 150 dollars within about a year, and it continues in a 2015 factsheet that still sends most wild roots to Hong Kong and China. The trial record is the thinnest part. For another traditional remedy traced into the lab, see the [omega-3 history](/blog/history/history-of-omega-3-from-cod-liver-oil-to-epa-and-dha). What turned a pecul worth 3,000 dollars in 1783 into one worth 150 to 350 dollars in 1784? ## Next reads - [Mitochondrial health guide](/health/mitochondrial-health-complete-guide): the cellular energy pillar, for research this post only touches at the edges. - [Turmeric history](/blog/history/history-of-turmeric-and-curcumin-from-ayurveda-to-isolation): another herb traced from tradition to the lab. ### Related reading - [the ginkgo origin story from temple trees to leaf extract](/blog/history/history-of-ginkgo-from-temple-trees-to-leaf-extract) - [the green tea origin story from Shennong to EGCG](/blog/history/history-of-green-tea-from-shennong-to-egcg)