VietNamNet Bridge – A man in the central province of Quang Nam recently found a piece of Ngoc Linh ginseng more than 100 yearsold and weighing about 1 kg on Ngoc Linh Mountain, said Chairman of Nam Tra My district Ho Quang Buu.

The lucky man is Ho Van Chieu, from Tu Ton village, in Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province.

Chieu said last week he climbed up the Ngoc Linh Mount to seek Ngoc Linh ginseng. He found a Ngoc Linh ginseng tree of over 100 years old (the ginseng has 100 internodes, each corresponding to one year old).

Chieu brought the ginseng home and sold to a local woman named Thuong for VND200 million (nearly $10,000).

The woman offered the ginseng for sale at VND250 million (over $22,000). Many traders from Da Nang and Saigon have come to see and buy the ginseng.

This is the biggest and oldest Ngoc Linh ginseng discovered in Ngoc Linh Mount in the past 20 years.

Chairman of Nam Tra My District People's Committee Ho Quang Buu said the district was seeking to purchase the rare ginseng to extract genes for preservation and display. However, due to budget shortage, the district authorities were negotiating with the owner.

Ngoc Linh ginseng or Vietnamese ginseng was found in the highlands of central Vietnam in 1973, and was regarded as a new species, and subsequently named Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv (1985). This is the most southern distribution of the Panax genus (Araliaceae). It is the 20th ginseng species discovered in the world.

Ngoc Linh ginseng grows on Ngoc Linh Mountain of 2,598m, in nine communes of three districts of Dak Glei, Tu Mo Rong (Kon Tum province) and Tra My (Quang Nam province).

It has been a secret medicine of the Sedang ethnic group, a miraculous, life-saving plant drug used for the treatment of many serious diseases and for enhancing body strength during long journeys in high mountains.

Chemical studies of the constituents of the plant have identified 23 saponins, including 14 new compounds. Some of them are common to Panax ginseng, such as protopanaxadiol and protopanaxatriol saponins, but in higher concentration in this species. In addition, an extremely high concentration of ocotillol saponins, i.e. majonoside-R2 (5.3% of the dried rhizome) has been identified.

In nature, Ngoc Lam ginseng is nearly extinct since the price for a kilo of fresh ginseng is from VND60-100 million ($3,000-5,000).

Some projects to plant and multiple Ngoc Linh ginseng have been implemented in Quang Nam.

Le Ha