Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: Abstract
Ginsenosides are an important class of bioactive compounds in Ginseng. In recent years, the sugar chains of ginsenosides have been found to be closely related to its biological activity, and modification of the sugar chains by biotransformation of ginsenosides makes it easier to obtain rare ginsenosides. Samples of Ginseng root soils, collected from Changbai Mountain, were used to isolate fungi on PDA medium. A total of 68 fungal strains were isolated and then screened on solid transfer medium for active strains. A total of 12 strains showed positive activity on different ginsenosides, and one strain, SYP2353, was found to have the stronger activity on Rg₃, and its transformation products were separated and purified by column chromatography on silica-gel. The biotransformation products of Rg₃ were identified to be rare ginsenoside Rh₂ and aglycon PPD by spectral analysis and comparison of physical constants. Simultaneously, the active strain SYP2353 was identified as Myrothecium verrucaria based on morphological characteristics of colonies, conidium and conidiophore, as well as ITS rRNA sequence.

Key words: ginsenoside Rg₃, ginsenoside Rh₂, aglycon PPD, biotransformation