The extract was filtered through Whatman No.1 (Whatman Ltd., Cambridge, UK) filter paper and concentrated at 45–50°C. The concentrate was dissolved in 100 mL of distilled water and washed twice in a separation funnel with 100 mL diethyl ether to remove fats. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with 100 mL water-saturated n-butanol. The

n-butanol extracts were pooled and washed twice with 100 mL of distilled water to remove impurities. The resulting n-butanol layer was evaporated at 55°C using a rotary vacuum evaporator. Finally, the round flask with the evaporated residue was dried at 105°C until it reached a constant weight. The weight of the evaporated residue was measured and used as the crude saponin content. Ginsenosides were determined using ultra Selleckchem Dinaciclib performance liquid chromatography (UPLC; Acquity UPLC System; Waters, Milford, MA, USA) equipped with a binary solvent delivery system, an autosampler, a tunable UV detector, and an Acquity UPLC bridge ethylene hybrid-based particles C18 column (1.7 μM, Φ2.1 × 100 mm; Waters). The samples (0.5 g) were dissolved in 10 mL of 50% methanol and were ultrasonicated for 30 minutes,

and then the mixtures were centrifuged at 1000 × g for 10 minutes. The injection volume was 2 μL and the absorbance BEZ235 research buy was measured at 203 ± 0.2 nm. The two mobile phases were phase A: water; phase B: acetonitrile, and the UPLC elution conditions were as follows: 0–0.5 minutes, A-B (85:15 v/v); 0.5–14.5 minutes, A-B (70:30 v/v); 14.5–15.5

minutes, A-B (68:32 v/v); 15.5–16.5 minutes, A-B (60:40 v/v); 16.5–20.0 minutes, Prostatic acid phosphatase A-B (45:55 v/v); 20.0–22.0 minutes, A-B (10:90 v/v); and 22.0–27.0 minutes, A-B (85:15 v/v). The flow rate was set at 0.6 mL/minute and the column temperature was maintained at 40 ± 2°C. Acidic polysaccharide content was measured according to the carbazole-sulfuric acid method [19] using galacturonic acid as a standard. Briefly, 0.5 mL of the sample extract solution was mixed with 0.25 mL of carbazole-absolute ethanol (0.1%, v/v) and 3 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid. Then the mixed solution was reacted in 80°C water for 5 minutes and cooled. The absorbance was read in a cuvette at 525 nm. The acidic polysaccharide content after enzyme treatment was determined according to the method of Lee and Do [20] with minor modification. The ginseng powder (1 g) was dissolved with distilled water (10 mL) and 0.25% of each enzyme (α-amylase and cellulase) was added. The mixture was incubated at 40–50°C for 60 minutes (pH 4–5). The resulting solution was centrifuged at 1000 × g for 30 minutes and the acidic polysaccharide content of the supernatant was determined. The ground ginseng samples (0.5 g) were extracted twice with 10 mL of an ethanol:water (80:20 v/v) solution. The first extraction involved stirring for 2 hours at 30°C and the extracts were pooled. Then, the solid was re-extracted under the same conditions for 12 hours.