Study on Transformation of Ginsenosides in Different Methods

Abstract

Ginseng is a traditional Chinese medicine and has the extensive pharmacological activity. Ginsenosides are the major constituent in ginseng and have the unique biological activity and medicinal value. Ginsenosides have the good effects on antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and inhibition of the cell apoptosis. Studies have showed that the major ginsenosides could be converted into rare ginsenosides, which played a significant role in exerting pharmacological activity. However, the contents of some rare ginsenosides are very little. So it is very important to find the effective way to translate the main ginsenosides to rare ginsenosides. In order to provide the theoretical foundation for the transformation of ginsenoside in vitro, in this paper, many methods of the transformation of ginsenoside were summarized, mainly including physical methods, chemical methods, and biotransformation methods.

Figure 1

Methods applied on the transformation of ginsenosides. Three types of methods were concluded, which included the physical methods, chemical method, and biotransformation. Each type of method contained several kinds of common method that transformed a ginsenoside into another kind of ginsenoside by changing ginsenoside's chemical structure.

Figure 2

Data redrawn from [29]. Chemical transformation pathways of 20(S)-PPT ginsenosides Re, Rg2, and Rf. The transformation mechanisms of 20(S)-PPT ginsenosides Re, Rg2, and Rf include hydrolysis of saccharide substitution at C-6, Δ20(21) or Δ20(22) dehydration, and hydration addition reactions at C-24 and C-25.