Taiwan organic Danshen

The homology between medicine and food has played an important and unique role in Chinese culinary culture. Taiwanese improve and maintain their health through food, especially in the autumn and winter. Denshen is also called “Folks’ Ginseng” for its effect on blood circulation, blood lipid as well as heart and blood vessels. It can be organically cultivated in Taiwan since it has few pest and diseases problems.

Danshen, also know as Red Ginseng, has flowers grown in whorls with light purple to lavender blue corollas. It is also called as “Red Coral” for its coral red roots. Denshen prefers to grow in warm and humid regions, where soil is full of humus. Its growing season of one year forces many frustrated farmers to give up. Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station started to collect and breed Denshen cultivars in 2005 and assisted farmers in Yilan and Hualien to grow organically. Denshen cultivation was first promoted in Pingtung in 2019. Those grown in greenhouses with a good drainage system particularly have strong Ginseng aroma.

The researches of Agricultural Research and Extension Station have found more active components in roots harvested in the autumn and winter than in those harvested in the summer. Denshen produce in Taiwan is traceable to prevent heavy metal and pesticide residues and is higher quality than that in China.

More and more farmers start to grow Denshen because it is suitable for organic farming without serious pest and disease problems and receives 20 to 30 % higher profit margin than rice. Denshen can be infected by root-knot nematodes, which cause plants to wilt and rot by reducing the transportation ability of the galled roots. Some farmers adopt crop rotation to reduce the amount of parasite population.

To keep the edible roots intact, farmers do not harvest Denshen in raining days. They carefully dig the soil with hoes to loose the plants and then pull out the roots without breaking them. Any damage to these roots would make it difficult to keep the harvest in good condition. Each intact root is so precious because farmers have to repeat the same process many times before a root is harvested.

90 % of Chinese Medicine used in Taiwan is imported from China. Take Denshen for example. The amount of import has increased from 150 tones to 300 tones and then achieved 600 tones in 2009 and indicated a significant usage in Taiwan. Chinese Medicine shall only be sold by licensed drug stores or doctors of Chinese Medicine. The sales of Denshen would be an issue for farmers. After the announcement of traditional Chinese medicine and food regulations, some traditional Chinese medicine can be used and managed as food. Farmers can directly sell fresh and dried red jujubes, pearled barley, black beans and other Chinese medicine grown in Taiwan. Some medicine, such as Ginseng, Angelica and Denseng, can only be used as “ingredients” in cooking. Farmers can sell fresh Denseng directly and dried Denseng to traditional Chinese medicine drug stores. Therefore, they try to sell most fresh produce to fine-dining restaurants. Except for dietary supplement, Denseng can be used to make desserts without grassy taste.

Bio-tech companies in Taiwan are recently developing Denshen products in the forms of injections, tablets, capsules, drop pills and etc. To increase the product variety, they also provide supplement products, such as tea bags, drinks, and prepared herb meals. Essential oil and aroma water extracted from the roots, stems, flowers and leaves of Denshen can make skincare products. Denshen is a high value-added crop because the whole plant can be used in the production.

Reminder: Patients with hemorrhagic disorder shall be cautious about taking Denshen. Women having periods and pregnancy should avoid taking Denshen. Please prevent taking Denshen with aspirin and other anticoagulant agents.