*2.7. Ginsenoside Profile*

Ginsenoside profile was analyzed by an HPLC system by dissolving the crude saponin concentrates in 5 mL of HPLC-grade methanol, followed by filtering with a Millipore filter (pore size 0.45 μm). The instrument was a 1260 Infinity II LC system (Agilent, Santa Clara, USA) equipped with a Kinetex C18 column (50 × 4.6 mm, Phenomenex, CA, USA) and a UV detector at 203 nm. The binary gradient-elution solvents consisted of distilled water (mobile phase A) and acetonitrile (mobile phase B). The flow rate of the mobile phase was 0.6 mL/min, the sample injection volume was 5 μL, and the analytical column temperature was maintained at 45 ◦C. The following gradient elution procedure was used: 0–7 min, 81% A, 19% B; 7–14 min, 71% A, 29% B; 14–25 min, 60% A, 40% B; 25–28 min, 44% A, 56% B; 28–30 min, 30% A, 70% B; 30–31.5 min, 10% A, 90% B; 31.5–34 min, 10% A, 90% B; 34–34.5 min, 81% A, 19% B; 34.5–40 min, 81% A, 19% B.
