Family: Ginkgo biloba L.: Gingkoacea

Panax Ginseng: Araliacea

Other known names: Ginseng; Root of Heaven. Maidenhair Tree

Thai names: som, pak sam,

Botanical descriptions:

Ginkgo bilboa:
The gingko tree is native of Asia but can also be found in on other continents including Europe where it has adapted itself to thrive in colder climates. Ginkgo is a slender, assymetric-branched tree that can attain a height of 30 m sometimes 40 m. with broad light green fan-shaped two lobed leaves from 5 cm to 8 cm wide on stalks of about 8 cm. The tree thrives in slightly acid, well drained soil and takes from 5 to 7 years to reach maturity. Most flowering plants have both sexes, but the Ginkgo is unusual in that the plants are either male or female. The female tree is slightly shorter and has a broader canopy. The leaves of the ginkgo have been used for thousands of years in folk medicine.
Ginseng has a sweetly aromatic flavour.

panax ginseng:
The East Asian ‘real’ ginseng plant. There is a difference between Paksom and Hongsom in the white or red colouring. The root is used from the trees which grow in northern South-East Asia and in northern China. The age of the tree, the soil quality and the size of the roots have a great influence on the price. In China where the ginseng is regarded as a panacea for illness, extremely large roots are bequeathed as family heirlooms.

Ingredients:
Ginkgo: flavonolglycoside, gingkolide, bilobalide
Ginseng: 2-4 % ginsenoside (triterpansaponine), arabinose, rhamnose.

Uses in Ethnic Medicine:
Each plant has its own set of uses in folk medicine.
It is only in Thailand that both plants are used mixed together. This is supposed to have a synergetic effect (complimentary and increasing). Due to the ingredients and the various uses, it appears that the use as a combination is successful.

Ginseng has been use since time immemorial as a tonic and stimulant for the heart and the circulation. It works as an antidepressant and as an aphrodisiac.
Ginseng has always been used in the treatment of disorders of mental capacity, memory, concentration, and depression. It can also be used for vertigo (dizziness), tinitus (noise and ringing in the ears), circulation disorders (claudicatio intermittens), muscle paresis, paresthesia (prickling or tingling in the skin ‘pins-and-needles’). The combination of the two plants appears to be an ideal geriatricum (general product against effects of advanced age).

Traditional Thai prescriptions:
Ginkgo leaves are dried and pulverised. In the Far East, gathering the leaves in the month of August ensures that they have the highest concentration of active ingredients. The root of the panax ginseng is also dried and pulverised, and the two powders are mixed in equal quantities. If taken regularly the mixture can help in the above conditions.

Pharmacognistic action and clinical trials:
It would be impossible to list and describe here all the research and trials which have been made all over the world and which are still being carried out. A wealth of material is available in many languages and at the time this writing there were 821 pages concerning ginkgo on the Internet and over 1,000 for ginseng and more than a hundred books on each in English alone. It has been postulated that the action of ginseng increases the adrenocorticotropic (ACTH) hormone activity of the brain without involving the adrenal glands.

Trials have shown that natural ginkgo and ginseng as used in folk medicine, probably possess the best effects and biological compatibility. Tests have shown that most commercially distributed ginseng and ginkgo products come from cultivated plants which contain relatively little ginsenocide in contrast to the plants which grow wild in their natural habitat. In traditional Thai medicine only these uncultivated plants are harvested following the rules of GAP (good agricultural practice) and prepared according to old tradition. Only by respecting these measures, as scientific trial have confirmed, can an optimal effect be obtained.