Discrimination between ginseng from Korea and China by light stable isotope analysis

Ginseng is a health food and traditional medicine highly valued in Asia. Ginseng from certain origins is higher valued than from other origins, so that a reliable method for differentiation of geographical origin is important for the economics of ginseng production. To discriminate between ginseng samples from South Korea and PR China, 29 samples have been analyzed for the isotopic composition of the elements H, C and N. The results showed δ2H values between −94 and −79‰, for δ13C −27.9 to −23.7‰ and for δ15N 1.3–5.4‰ for Chinese ginseng. Korean ginseng gave δ2H ratios between −91 and −69‰, δ13C ratios between −31.2 and −22.4‰ and δ15N ratios between −2.4 and +7‰. Despite the overlap between the values for individual isotopes, a combination of the isotope systems gave a reasonable differentiation between the two geographic origins. Especially the statistically significant difference in δ2H ratios facilitated the differentiation between Korean and Chinese ginseng samples.