Analysis of terpenoids and steroids in the seeds of Panax ginseng

Abstract

Phytosterols have many benefits for human health. Phytosterols are abundant in many plant materials. We determined the amounts of lupeol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, and squalene in seeds of Panax ginseng by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis. We assayed the contents of these phytosterols in seeds from plants of different ages, seeds from different varieties, and seeds cultivated from different countries. The contents of lupeol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, and squalene ranged from 14.15–38.88, 21.33–31.12, 0.00–95.41, to 0.01–0.31 mg g⁻¹ dry weight (DW), respectively. The highest content of terpenoids and steroids was found in 3-year-old seeds (29.06 mg g⁻¹ DW), seeds of the variety Chunpoong (25.20 mg g⁻¹ DW), and seeds from China (34.17 mg g⁻¹ DW). This result will be useful in the application of these terpenoids and steroids from seeds of P. ginseng in the development of nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical materials.