• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.17
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• pp.115-133
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• 1974

This study was done on the metabolism of chemical components during the seed development of ginseng. The changes of the chemical components were inspected in the following periods: from the early stage of flower organ formation to flowering time, from the early stage of fruiting to maturity, during the moisture stratification before sowing. From flower bud forming stage to meiosis stage, the changes in the fresh weight, dry weight, contents of carbohydrates, and contents of nitrogen compounds were slight while the content of TCA soluble phosphorus and especially the content of organic phosphorus increased markedly. From meiosis stage to microspore stage the fresh and dry weights increase greatly. Also, the total nitrogen content increases in this period. Insolub]e nitrogen was 62-70% of the total nitrogen content; the increase of insoluble nitrogen seems to have resulted form the synthesis of protein. The content of soluble sugar (reducing and non-reducing sugar) increases greatly but there was no observable increase in starch content. In this same period, TCA soluble phosphorus reached the maximum level of 85.4% of the total phosphorus. TCA insoluble phosphorus remained at the minimum content level of 14.6%. After the pollen maturation stage and during the flowering period the dry weight increased markedly and insolub]e nitrogen also increased to the level of 67% of the total nitrogen content. Also in this stage, the organic phosphorus content decreased and was found in lesser amounts than inorganic phosphorus. A rapid increase in the starch content was also observed at this stage. In the first three weeks after fruiting the ginseng fruit grows rapidly. Ninety percent of the fresh weight of ripened ginseng seed is obtained in this period. Also, total nitrogen content increased by seven times. As the fruits ripened, insoluble nitrogen increased from 65% of the total nitrogen to 80% while soluble nitrogen decreased from 35% to 20%. By the beginning of the red-ripening period, the total phosphoric acid content increased by eight times and was at its peak. In this same period, TCA soluble phosphorus was 90% of total phosphorus content and organic phosphorus had increased by 29 times. Lipid-phosphorus, nucleic acid-phosphorus and protein-phosphorus also increased during this stage. The rate of increase in carbohydrates was similar to the rate of increase in fresh weight and it was observed at its highest point three weeks after fruiting. Soluble sugar content was also highest at this time; it begins to decrease after the first three weeks. At the red-ripening stage, soluble sugar content increased again slightly, but never reached its previous level. The level of crude starch increased gradually reaching its height, 2.36% of total dry weight, a week before red-ripening, but compared with the content level of other soluble sugars crude starch content was always low. When the seeds ripened completely, more than 80% of the soluble sugar was non-reducing sugar, indicating that sucrose is the main reserve material of carbohydrates in ginseng seeds. Since endosperm of the ripened ginseng seeds contain more than 60% lipids, lipids can be said to be the most abundant reserve material in ginseng seeds; they are more abundant than carbohydrates, protein, or any other component. During the moisture stratification, ginseng seeds absorb quantities of water. Lipids, protein and starch stored in the seeds become soluble by hydrolysis and the contents of sugar, inorganic phosphorus, phospho-lipid, nucleic acid-phosphorus, protein phosphorus, and soluble nitrogen increase. By sowing time, the middle of November, embryo of the seeds grows to 4.2-4.7mm and the water content of the seeds amounts to 50-60% of the total seed weight. Also, by this time, much budding material has been accumulated. On the other hand, dry stored ginseng seeds undergo some changes. The water content of the seeds decreases to 5% and there is an observable change in the carbohydraes but the content of lipid and nitrogen compounds did not change as much as carbohydrates.