Retention of Ginsenosides in Dried Ginseng Root: Comparison of Drying Methods

North American ginseng ( Panax quinquefolius ) has a long history of use and is currently a commercially reliable natural health commodity. Ginsenosides or triterpene saponins are generally regarded as bioactive constituents for several observed health effects associated with ginseng. North American ginseng was dried using 3 different drying techniques to assess the ginsenoside content of prepared extracts. Drying methods included freeze‐drying (FD), air‐drying (AD), and vacuum microwave‐drying (VMD) of ginseng root. High‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that FD ginseng processing gave greater ( P ≥ 0.05) amounts of the fingerprint ginsenosides Rg1 (28 ± 0.9 mg/g, dry weight) and Re (45 ± 0.1) compared with AD (Rg1 19 ± 0.7, Re 29 ± 0.1) and VMD (Rg1 22 ± 0.8, Re 24 ± 0.1); whereas, VMD produced greater amounts of Rb1 (83 ± 0.1) and Rd (13 ± 0.0) than FD (Rb1 62 ± 0.1, Rd 9 ± 0.1) and AD (Rb1 69 ± 0.1, Rd 5 ± 0.0), respectively. Total ginsenoside content was similar for FD and VMD and was the lowest ( P ≥ 0.05) for AD. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) analysis showed a total of 12 compounds detected in FD ginseng compared with 10 compounds in ginseng dried by both VMD and AD. Our results support the fact that FD and VMD drying methods of North American ginseng can improve both extraction efficiency and actual retention of individual ginsenoside in root material.