It is said in Chinese medicine that Ginseng root has an anti-fatigue, anti-hypothermia, antidiabetic and sedative activities. It has been also utilized to develop physiological strength and to increases spontaneous movement of digestive system.
Several papers concerning Ginseng root have been reported in the pharmacological fields, stating that some fractions of Ginseng root have central nervous system stimulant and analeptic activities (1), or stimulate a motility of digestive system (2). Petkov (3, 4) reported that water-alcohol extracts of Ginseng root produced smooth muscle contraction and had stimulant effects on central nervous system with the pole climbing test. Shibata et al. (5) have studied the chemical structure of Ginseng saponins and their sapogenins.
In this paper, pharmaclogical properties of a crude saponin fraction (GNo. 3) of Ginseng root are discussed and effects of GNo. 3 on central nervous system and digestive system were investigated.