Proteome of Oriental ginseng Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer and the potential to use it as an identification tool

Oriental ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) are two widely used valuable traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). Previously, the identification of ginseng was mainly performed by analyzing the ginsengnosides using high performance liquid chromatography and amplification of polymorphic DNA using polymerase chain reaction. However, these methods cannot be used to distinguish TCM samples which are from different parts (main root, lateral roots, rhizome head and skin) of ginseng and ginseng culture cells from wild-grown ginseng. The present study aimed to identify different species of ginseng, different parts of the same ginseng and cultured cells of ginseng using a proteomic approach. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) maps were established from the American ginseng main root, different parts (main root, lateral roots, rhizome head and skins) of Oriental ginseng and Oriental ginseng culture cells. Our results show that the 2-DE maps of different ginseng samples contain sufficient differences to permit easy discrimination. We have also identified common and specific protein spots in the 2-DE maps of different ginseng samples. The use of these "marker proteins" may help to speed up the identification process.