The Ngọc Linh Kontum Ginseng JSC is granted the "Ngọc Linh" certificate for 10,000 ginseng roots aged over 10 years in Măng Ri Commune. — VNA/VNS Photo

The Department of Science and Technology of the Central Highlands Kon Tum Province has granted its very first geographical indication certificates for Ngọc Linh ginseng products of two local companies.

Accordingly, the Ngọc Linh Kontum Ginseng Joint Stocks Company has been granted the "Ngọc Linh" certificate for 10,000 ginseng roots aged over 10 years in Măng Ri Commune, Tu Mơ Rông District.

The other company is Ngọc Linh Tu Mơ Rông Kon Tum Ginseng Joint Stock Company, with 2,200 roots aged over six years from the same district’s Ngọc Lây Commune.

Huỳnh Trung Kim, deputy director of the department, emphasised that after receiving the certificates, the two companies must affix geographical indication labels to their Ngọc Linh ginseng products.

Over 1,700ha of the ginseng are currently being cultivated across the local districts of Tu Mơ Rông and Đắk Glei.

Ngọc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese ginseng), a rare medical root containing 52 saponin compounds helpful to health, was found on Ngọc Linh Mountain on the boundary between Kon Tum and Quảng Nam provinces in the late 1960s.

Besides saponin, Ngọc Linh ginseng contains 17 amino acids, 20 trace minerals and 0.1 per cent of attar. The ginseng has high effects in anti-stress and anti-aging conditions. It helps improve immunity, enhance liver function, and lower cholesterol. It also works well with antibiotics and diabetes medications.

One of the world’s most precious, the ginseng was approved as a national product under the Prime Minister’s Decision 787/QĐ-TTg dated June 5, 2017. — VNS