Ginseng of Different Ages is Affected by the Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Ginseng Soil

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2022 Jun 13

PMID 35696360

Authors

Juxin Yin

Jianjian Zhuang

Xin Zhang

Chaojian Xu

Shaowu Lv

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Heavy-metal pollution has been established to affect ginseng quality. However, this effect is still unknown in ginseng of different ages, emphasizing the need to investigate the effects of heavy metals in soils on ginseng growth. Herein, we determined the content of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Hg, and As) in ginseng of different ages (2 to 6-year-old) and the corresponding soil samples. Then, the total ginsenosides content of ginseng and rate-limiting enzyme (HMGR, SQE, CYP450) activity in the synthesis of ginsenosides were assessed. Results from 200 differently-aged Chinese ginseng showed that increased ginsenoside content in 3 to 5-year-old ginseng was paralleled by increased heavy metal element content in ginseng and its soil. The activity of rate-limiting enzymes increased in the first four years of ginseng growth and then exhibited a steady or downward trend. Further analysis suggested that heavy metal elements in soils could directly affect ginsenoside content. Moreover, we found that Cu significantly affected the rate-limiting enzyme CYP450 activity. Further principal component analysis and correlation analysis found that heavy metals could obviously inhibit ginseng growth during the 5th and 6th years. Heavy metal content in soils has huge prospects for predicting ginsenoside, Cu and As content in ginseng. This study provided support for ginseng cultivation, quality research and quality assessment.

Citing Articles

Effects of soil properties and microbial community composition on ginsenosides accumulation in farmland ginseng.

Zhang T, Xu Z, Wang Y, Gao Q Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2024; 12:1462342.

PMID: 39308698 PMC: 11413589. DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1462342.

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