Patent ID: 8092842

Claim:
A process for extraction of polysaccharides, oligosaccharides and saponins from ginseng to form a ginseng extract concentrate, the process comprising: a first step of washing ginseng with an alcohol solution and drying it to form a dried ginseng; a second step of adding the dried ginseng to a volume of water and controllably agitating said volume of water thereby producing a controllably agitated slurry of said ginseng; a third step comprising adding amylase to said controllably agitated slurry, said amylase selected for catabolizing at least one of cellulosic materials and starch materials, controllably heating said controllably agitated slurry to a temperature selected from a range of 40° C. to 110° C., and holding said controllably agitated slurry at said selected temperature for a period of time selected from a range of 0.5 hour to 24 hours; a fourth step comprising separating said controllably agitated slurry into a first liquid fraction and a first solid fraction; a fifth step comprising adding the first solid fraction to a volume of water, controllably agitating the water thereby producing a controllably agitated second slurry, controllably heating the controllably agitated second slurry to a temperature selected from a range of 40° C. to 110° C., holding said controllably agitated second slurry at said selected temperature for a period of time selected from a range of 30 minutes to 24 hours; a sixth step of separating said controllably agitated second slurry into a second liquid fraction and a second solid fraction; a seventh step comprising commingling said first liquid fraction and said second liquid fraction to form a first and second liquid fraction; an eighth step comprising concentrating said first and second liquid fraction by controllably removing water therefrom, thereby producing a ginseng extract concentrate.