Ginseng fields, South Korea

Few medicinal plants are as well-known as Ginseng. Its Latin name, panax, means " panacea ", an allusion to the universal remedy that heals all illnesses. The first writings on Ginseng's wonderful properties date back to the 1st Century B.C but the Chinese have been using it for three thousand years. There are two types of ginseng that make up the biggest part of production and world trade: North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng). Both are undergrowth plants that do not like too much light and humidity. The firstisgrown in the forest whilst the second is produced in fields, beneath big fabric or rice straw canopies that filter almost 80% of the sun's rays and recreate the undergrowth's lighting. The conditions are then optimal and the ginseng can be harvested after only three or four years of culture (compared to eight to ten years in the forest). Together with China and Canada, Korea is one of the world's largest ginseng producers.