Comparative titration of ginsenosides by different techniques in commercial ginseng products and callus cultures

The ginsenoside content of different ginseng species (Panax ginseng, P. quinquefolium, and P. vietnamensis) from different sources (roots from field-grown plants or from in vitro cultures, cells from solid calluses or from liquid cultures, commercial powders, and suspensions) is evaluated by means of a new high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique combining an automatic TLC sampler and scanner. The results are compared with those obtained through more classical gross spectrometric and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques. HPTLC and HPLC allow the separation and estimation of the different ginsenosides. For this, HPTLC is faster and simpler than HPLC. Both techniques determine less amounts of ginsenosides than spectrophotometry, which displays overestimated values caused by light absorption by contaminating osides. In vitro cultured cells and roots contain the same ginsenosides as those produced by their mother plants, although at quite lower levels. The culture media also accumulates ginsenosides.