Effects of Steam- and Dry-processing Temperatures on the Benzo(a)pyrene Content of Black and Red Ginseng

Abstract

Abstract For the purpose of developing a safe & hygienic manufacturing method to acquire low levels of benzo(a)pyrene in black and red ginseng products, this study investigated the effects of steam- and dry-processing temperatures on benzo(a)pyrene production in ginseng. By the red ginseng with a fix dry-process temperature of 50℃ and setting the steam-process temperature between 80～120℃, an extremely small amount(0.1 ppb) of benzo(a)pyrene was produced, indicating there was no relationship between the steam-temperature and benzo(a)pyrene production. On the other hand, when the red and black ginseng were steamed at the fixed temperature of 100℃ and dried at various temperatures between 50～120℃, the amount of benzo(a)pyrene produced was closely connected with the dry-temperature, and increased with higher drying temperatures. Upon repeating the steam and dry process nine times, in which the steam-temperature was set at 100℃ and the dry- temperature at 50℃, higher amount of benzo(a)pyrene were produced in red and black ginseng, respectively, with increasing steam- and dry-processing time. However, the level of benzo(a)pyrene still remained extremely small(below 0.12 ppb), showing a maximum amount in the black ginseng that was steamed and dried nine times. This suggests that the fine root of ginseng may be carbonized by increasing the number of times it is steam- and dry-processed. From the above results, this study determined that the optimum temperatures for manufacturing red and black ginseng products with safe levels of benzo(a)pyrene would be a temperature between 80 and 120℃ for steaming and a temperature less than 50℃ for drying.Key words: benzo(a)pyrene, red ginseng, black ginseng, nine times steam- and dry-processing.