Since ancient times, man has turned to nature in search of a cure for a wide variety of ailments. Siberian herbs are a bouquet of useful properties: they are rich in vitamins, relieve pain, fatigue, calm nerves. Healers of all time have isolated such an amazing plant as ginseng. Its root is widely used for medicinal purposes.
Plant origin
It is impossible to date its appearance on Earth, but scientists have learned that in Chinese medicine the “root of life” began to be widely used even more than three millennia ago. Today, the medicinal properties of this plant are known in almost all countries of the planet. Once upon a time, ginseng grew exclusively in shady forests, but people quickly learned to grow it in convenient places, culturally.
Where does ginseng grow in Russia?
On the territory of the Russian Federation, the “blow of immortality, " as ginseng is sometimes called, can be found in vivo in Primorye, as well as in the southern half of the Khabarovsk Territory. The first plantations of this plant arose in Siberia, together with the onset of the nineteenth century. Where does ginseng grow in Russia besides this place? Farmers of the Far East joined their northern colleagues, later they began to grow the “root of life” in the Altai Territory and the Urals. Among the population of the Russian Federation, there is an opinion that Siberian ginseng is somewhat different from other species of this plant.
Ginseng collection and harvesting
Having found out where ginseng grows in Russia, some people will want to collect it. For medicinal purposes, not the whole plant is used, but only its roots. Particularly valuable are those resembling a human figure in appearance. The root should be harvested in September. Before you pull it out of the ground, you need to cut off the aerial shoots. Then you should carefully dig the root with a pitchfork and shake it so that the soil crumbles from it. Sorting follows, the total number of dug up roots is divided into four groups: diseased, underdeveloped, healthy and slightly damaged. During this process, ginseng is finally cleaned of soil residues and other foreign bodies.
The maturity of the root, suitable for its use for medicinal purposes, in a wild plant occurs after twenty-five to thirty years of life. Cultivated ginseng is dug up at the age of seven. The average mass of such roots is around fifty grams. Ginseng is listed on the pages of the Red Book of the Russian Federation, for this reason it is possible to dig out and harvest the wild "root of life" only under a license.
Dug and washed roots hang over water vapor, heated to eighty degrees, for an hour, and then they are removed for two months in a dark place, where they harden and acquire a light brown color. This root is called red and has been stored for many years.
