Although it is considered as an adaptogen, it's not really the family of Ginseng, it has woody roots rather than fleshy.
Most ginseng types contain ginsenosides but the Siberian one contains eleutherosides instead.
By the way ginsenosides are compounds that are believed to be the active properties that are responsible for ginseng's efficacy.
Eleutherosides are triterperpenoid saponins which are derived from different adaptogen than Ginseng.
As opposed to Panax quinquefolius and Panax Ginseng which both are true ginsengs, the real name of this herb is Eleutherococcus senticosus. The name Siberian Ginseng is used as a marketing trick.
Panax quinquefolius is usually called American ginseng, in Traditional Chinese Medicine community they name it Huaqishen.
It's a true ginseng which however contains less ginsenosides Rg1 than panax ginseng.
The huaqishen may help to improve spatial learning and perform estrogen-like activity in the body.
Panax herbs (Panax Ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, etc) contain other forms of ginsenosides, such as:
Ginsenoside Rb1 :
The largest concentration of this substance can be found in American Ginseng.
This compound is considered to have positive effects to reproductive system.
Rb1 is believed to have the ability to improve the production of testosterone and show good effects to testicles.
The way Rb1 increases testosterone is by stimulating the luteinizing hormone.
More importantly, Rb1 helps to reduce the angiogenesis activity. Angiogenesis is a process which builds new blood vessels, uncontrolled angiogenesis may lead to the development of malignant tumor cells from the dormant ones.
Ginsenoside Rc :
This substance exhibits sedative properties. According to a breast cancer study, the researchers found that such compound inhibited breast cancer cells growth. Thus, the ginsenoside Rc may be used for treating or preventing breast cancer disease.
More studies revealed that such compound from ginseng may increase the sperm's motility. They generated this conclusion based on the experiment where the motility of sperm increased in a significant way in a solution of ginsenoside Rc.
Ginsenoside Rf:
This compound can only be found in panax ginseng. The Rf compound shows an analgesic effect by generating inhibitory effect on the Ca2+ neural channels inside the brain.
However there are more researches need to be done in order to explain how the effects work.
Ginsenoside Re:
The ginsenoside exhibits powerful antioxidant properties and shows ability to minimize resistance to insulin. This is likely to be the reason ginseng is used for treating Type 2 diabetes.
Currently, there are ongoing researches being conducted to observe these useful compounds of ginseng along with the other 10 or even more compounds of ginseng.
It's hard to trace and observe the effects of ginseng since its compounds work through many different approaches, and the scientists find it hard to isolate one.
Let's take calcium channels in the brain as an example. There are more than one ginsenoside that affect these channels, and it's hard to find out the role of each ginsenoside that contribute to these effects.
