## 2 Results
### Ginsenoside Content at Different Growth Times  
The ginsenoside content of the ginseng roots, stems and leaves was evaluated at different growth stages. As shown in Figures 2A and 3A, among the roots and stems at different growth stages, the total ginsenoside content in the green fruit was the lowest at 24.488 mg/g and 7.296 mg/g, respectively. The highest total ginsenoside content appeared in the leaf opened stage, at 30.707 mg/g and 11.605 mg/g, and then increased slowly from the green fruit stage to the root growth stage. As shown in Figure 4A, at different growth stages of the leaf, the total ginsenoside content in the leaf opened stage was the lowest (141.726 mg/g) and the highest total ginsenoside content occurred in the root growth stage (211.825 mg/g), after increasing slowly from the leaf opened stage to the root growth stage. All the individual ginsenosides in the roots, stems, and leaves of different growth periods are shown in Figures 2B, 3B and 4B. The variation trend of most individual ginsenosides is the same as that of the total saponins. Figure 1: Fresh and dry weights of ginseng roots at different growth stages. The data are expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SD. * indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.05 level. Figure 2: Ginsenoside content of roots from _Panax ginseng_ during the different growth stages. The total ginsenoside content in the root (**A**) and the major individual ginsenosides in the root (**B**) were analyzed  
according to the leaf opened, green fruit, red fruit, and root growth stages. Vertical bars indicate the mean \(\pm\) standard error from three independent experiments. The data are expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SD. * indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.05 level. ** indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.01 level. According to the skeleton of aglycones, ginsenosides have been classified into two major types: dammarane and oleanane. Dammarane-type ginsenoside is the main type of ginsenoside. The dammarane-type ginsenosides contain two groups: protopanaxadiol (PPD) and protopanaxatriol (PPT). The changes of PPT-type (Rg1, Re, and Rf) and PPD-type (Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rb3, and Rd) ginseng saponin content in different growth stages are shown in Figure 5.  
Figure 4: Ginsenoside contents of leaves from _Panax ginseng_ during the different growth stages. The total ginsenoside content in the leaf (**A**) and the major individual ginsenosides in the leaf (**B**) were analyzed according to the leaf opened, green fruit, red fruit, and root growth stages. Vertical bars indicate the mean \(\pm\) standard error from three independent experiments. The data are expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SD. * indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.05 level. ** indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.01 level. Figure 3: Ginsenoside contents of stems from _Panax ginseng_ during the different growth stages. The total ginsenoside content in the stem (**A**) and the major individual ginsenosides in the stem (**B**) were analyzed according to the leaf opened, green fruit, red fruit, and root growth stages. Vertical bars indicate the mean \(\pm\) standard error from three independent experiments. The data are expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SD. * indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.05 level. ** indicated that the different growth stages are significantly different at the 0.01 level. The ratio of PPD-type ginsengides to PPT-type ginsengides changed in the different growth stages (Table 1). In the roots, in the transition from the leaf opened to the red fruit stage, this ratio increased, and the ratio decreased in the transition from the red fruit to the root growth stage. The ratio peaked during the red fruit period. In the transition from the leaf opened to the root growth stage, this ratio decreased in the leaf and stem.