Comparative Analysis of Ginsenosides and Oligosaccharides in White Ginseng (WG), red Ginseng (RG) and Black Ginseng (BG)

Ginsenosides and oligosaccharides were comparatively analyzed in WG, RG and BG. The HPLC fingerprints of ginsenosides and oligosaccharides were established to unravel the characteristics of ginsenosides and oligosaccharides. The primary ginsenosides (Rg1, Rb1, Re, Rc, Rb2 and Rd, etc.) in WG were higher than those in RG and BG, but the variety of ginsenosides in RG is highest and the non-polar rare saponins are higher than RG. Five kinds of saccharides encompassed fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose and nystose, respectively, were determined in WG, RG and BG, disclosing that, the sucrose in WG is 1.4 times of that in RG and 119.6 times of that in BG; but the maltose in RG is 25.9 times of that in WG and 3.4 times of that in BG; the fructose in BG is 44 times that in WG and 18.3 times that in RG. The chemical reactions in the processing of ginseng were elucidated. It is for the first time that the ginsenosides and oligosaccharides were compared simultaneously in WG, RG and BG.