"Never Seen Such Wild Ginseng in Life"…Appraised at 680 Million Won 'Simwatta'

Width 112cm · Height 80cm · Weight 415g
Took 3 Hours to Dig, Record High Anticancer Substance
Resembles Wild Ginseng from 1300 to 1500 Years Ago

A rare wild ginseng of the world's largest size has been discovered in Jeonnam, attracting attention.

According to the Korea Traditional Simmani Association on the 11th, last year on November 6th, a hiker named Mr. A (57) found wild ginseng weighing approximately 415g in a mountain in Jeonnam and reported it to the association.

The association judged that this rare wild ginseng, measuring 112cm in width, 80cm in length, and weighing 415g, had distinctive characteristics compared to domestic wild ginseng in terms of color, shape, age, size, weight, taste (flavor), and aroma. Accordingly, they requested a component analysis from researchers at the Chungbuk Advanced Horticulture Center and Professor Baek Ki-yeop’s team from the Department of Horticultural Science at Chungbuk National University.

Rare wild ginseng discovered in the mountains of Jeonnam. Photo by Korea Traditional Simmani Association

The research team released the analysis results on the 9th, about 60 days later. The results exceeded expectations. The rare wild ginseng showed the highest levels of the substance RG3, known for its excellent anti-cancer properties. Based on this, the Korea Traditional Simmani Association concluded that it resembles wild ginseng from the Baekje and Unified Silla periods, dating back 1300 to 1500 years ago.

Regarding this rare wild ginseng, an association official explained, "The number of lateral roots of the size of fine roots is growing, forming a massive main body (trunk) with raised patterns. Especially, the head part is covered and enveloped inward due to the development of the main body, and it appears to be a solitary ginseng without baby ginseng (jasam)."

This wild ginseng is 100g heavier than the 312.5g wild ginseng auctioned for 600 million KRW in the Chinese wild ginseng market in 2009. Therefore, the association appraised this ginseng at a total value of 680 million KRW and evaluated it as the world's largest wild ginseng. To secure the future value of domestic ginseng and wild ginseng, they decided to purchase this ginseng and secure seeds for distribution.

Jung Hyung-beom, president of the Korea Traditional Simmani Association, said, "In my 65 years of life, this is the first time I have seen such wild ginseng." He added, "It took three hours just to dig up the wild ginseng, and we plan to request additional scientific analysis on environmental factors that allowed the ginseng to grow this way."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.