**1. Introduction**

Ginseng preparations have been widely utilized in many traditional medicines, notably Chinese Traditional Medicine, for approximately 5000 years because of their wide range of medicinal and pharmacological benefits [1]. Ginseng is the generic word for 18 plant species in the Genus *Panax* (Araliaceae), which means "all-curing" in Greek. *Panax ginseng* C. A. Meyer is the most commonly used ginseng in many traditional remedies. Ginseng preparations offer various health benefits, including the promotion of many important physiological functions (e.g., immunity, circulation, and cardiovascular), the prevention of neurological illnesses, the control of energy metabolism, and the maintenance of vitality and health.

The expansion of publications on ginseng, its phytochemistry, and its pharmacological uses over the last 50 years demonstrates that the development of analytical tools and the resurgence of traditional medicine since the 1970s has significantly contributed to rising interest in ginseng (**Figure 1**).

## **2. Ginseng phytochemistry**

The phytochemistry of *Panax* species has been studied since the mid-nineteenth century, with a particular focus on *Panax ginseng* (aka Asian, Chinese, or Korean ginseng)

#### **Figure 1.**

*Publication numbers dealing with ginseng phytochemistry and medicinal uses over the last 50 years (1970–2022).*

and *Panax quinquefolius* (aka American ginseng). The most beneficial phytochemicals identified in *Panax* species are ginsenosides (aka ginseng saponins, triterpene saponins). There are around 1000 ginsenosides described to date, Rb1, Rg1, Rg3, Re, Rd., and Rh1 being the most studied ginsenosides. The recent development of new high-throughput analytical instruments and procedures, such as ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), has substantially improved our current knowledge of ginsenoside structural diversity [1, 2]. To extract ginsenosides, many extraction processes, including green and modern extraction methods, have been designed, with contents and composition varying widely according to the species, organs, growing season, and production area [3]. Because these approaches allow for the purification of specific ginsenosides, researchers are actively exploiting them to better understand the unique mechanism of ginsenoside activities.
