Medicinal Plant Research 2025, Vol.15, No.5, 197-205 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 197 Systematic Review Open Access Biosynthetic Pathways of Ginsenosides and Polysaccharides inPanax ginseng YudieWang1, Meifang Li 2 1 Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China 2 Tropical Medicinal Plant Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China Corresponding author: meifang.li@cuixi.org Medicinal Plant Research, 2025, Vol.15, No.5 doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0021 Received: 20 Jun., 2025 Accepted: 31 Jul., 2025 Published: 10 Sep., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wang and Li, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wang Y.D., and Li M.F., 2025, Biosynthetic pathways of ginsenosides and polysaccharides in Panax ginseng, Medicinal Plant Research, 15(5): 197-205 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0021) Abstract Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), as a traditional Chinese medicinal material and an important economic crop, its main active components, ginsenosides and polysaccharides, have demonstrated pharmacological effects in terms of antioxidation, anti-inflammation, immune regulation and neuroprotection. This study systematically expounds the progress in the biosynthesis of ginsenosides and polysaccharides, including the roles of precursor substances and metabolic pathways, key rate-limiting enzymes, cytochrome P450 and glycosyltransferases in ginsenoside synthesis, as well as the regulation of polysaccharide synthetase and monosaccharide activation pathways in polysaccharide formation. The roles of transcription factors, signal transduction pathways and epigenetics in the regulation of synthetic pathways were further explored, and the applications of transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics in revealing key genes and metabolic networks were summarized. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering have provided new ideas for the efficient production of saponins and polysaccharides, but there are still problems such as insufficient functional gene identification, incomplete pathway analysis, and restricted application transformation. In-depth research on the biosynthetic pathways of ginsenosides and polysaccharides is conducive to the efficient development and utilization of ginseng resources, and also provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the metabolic improvement of medicinal plants and the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. Keywords Ginseng; Ginsenosides; Polysaccharides; Biosynthetic pathways; Multi-omics 1 Introduction Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, a perennial herb of Araliaceae, has been used in traditional medicine in East Asia for thousands of years and is regarded as one of the most valuable plant resources. Its root, stem, and leaf contain large amounts of bioactive ingredients that are accountable for its curative effect. Apart from its medicinal purpose, ginseng has become an important economic crop with extensive application in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, functional foods, and cosmetic industries. The rising demand for natural health products globally has also augmented the industrial worth of ginseng, which is now a high-priority target for both research by scholars and commercial use (Ratan et al., 2020). Among the numerous secondary metabolites in ginseng, ginsenosides (triterpenoid saponins) and polysaccharides are the two major classes of pharmacologically active molecules. Ginsenosides exhibit broad spectrum of biological activities from antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, neuroprotective, to cardioprotective activity. Ginseng polysaccharides are responsible for immunomodulation, anti-fatigue activity, metabolic control, and gut microbiota modulation. The harmonizing and sometimes complementary effect of these molecules forms the foundation of the pharmacology of ginseng's wide ranging therapeutic use (Hyun et al., 2021). Clarification of ginsenoside and polysaccharide biosynthetic pathways is central to the interpretation of the molecular and biochemical mechanism of their diversity and accumulation. Information regarding precursor supply, rate-limiting enzymes, glycosylation reactions, and transcriptional control provides a foundation for both fundamental biological research and applied biotechnology. In addition, pathway elucidation allows for the identification of targets for metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and molecular breeding, offering a means to enhance yield, quality improvement, and designing new ginseng-derived products (Mancusoand Santangelo, 2017).
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