LONDON, Ontario—A collaboration between academia and private industry may yield substantiated health claims for North American ginseng. “New Technologies for Ginseng Agriculture and Product Development,” a research project led by Edmund Lui, Ph.D./M.D., University of Western Ontario, was formed to validate several health claims on North American ginseng and aid in branding Ontario ginseng specifically.
According to the researchers, there is little agreement as to the active chemical constituents of ginseng and evidence supporting traditional health claims is limited. Canada is the world’s largest producer of North American ginseng, with the bulk of the crop grown in Ontario; less than 10 percent of Ontario ginseng is consumed domestically. The research project will focus on various health issues, including metabolic syndrome, stress, physical endurance, cardiovascular disease (CVD), immuno-modulation, reproductive health, and neuroprotective and psychiatric disorders. A three-pronged approach to develop the cultivar(s) has been established. Research team members represent a number of fields including agriculture, life sciences, biochemistry, social sciences, economics, marketing, knowledge translation and commercialization.
The collaborating institutions are McMaster University, Northern Ontario Medical School, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Can College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, HK Baptist University and Institute of Chinese Medicine, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Private sector partners include A&L Canada Laboratories Inc., Jamieson Laboratories Ltd., Naturex and the Ontario Ginseng Growers Association.
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