Korean yakju and takju

The ethnic Korean alcoholic beverages yakju and takju were originally made from rice but are now made by saccharifying wheat, barley, or corn with mold enzymes and fermenting the sugars to ethanol with yeasts.

In addition, broomcorn millet, foxtail millet and great millet are used for the fermentations. The lower or diluted concentration of yakju is known as takju. During yakju preparation, steamed rice is cooled and then mixed with nuruk and fermented.

Nuruk, cake made of malted and partially fermented grain, is the starter for yakju and takju. Presently, the substrate for nuruk is wheat but historically it was rice. The fermentation process is repeated by addition of rice and water to give 1st brewed liquor, 2nd brewed liquor, 3rd brewed liquor even up to a 12th brewed liquor. The liquid pressed from the fermenting mass is filtered under pressure, and is aged and bottled.

Yakju and takju are ancient beverages popular among the common people. Yakju originally was consumed by upper classes and takju, by peasants; now both are consumed by farmers and other low-income groups.
Korean yakju and takju 

Ginseng and Health Benefits

Ginseng and Health Benefits
Although many different kinds of ‘ginseng’ may be sold in Canadian and American retail outlet, two species are commonly seen in pharmacy practice: Panax Ginseng and Panax quinquefollius L. Other closely related species include: Panax pseudoginseng Wallich var, japonicus, Panax pseudoginseng Wallich var, notoginseng are rarely seen.

Panax is derived from the Greek roots pan meaning “all” and akos meaning “cure” and refers to the “cure all” and “panacea” quality generally attributed to the herb. The name ginseng means “essence of the earth in the form of a man,” and refers to the resemblance of the roots to a human form.

Ginseng has been an important part of Traditional Chinese Medicine for over five thousand years. It is considered to be a bitter sweet herb with a warming character. Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginseng was used to restore ‘yang’ quality and to treat general weakness, deficient qi (chi) patterns, anemia, lack of appetite, nervous agitation, thirst and impotence. It is classified as an adaptogen, which is thought to increase non specific resistance to adverse influences such as stress and infection. Traditionally it was used as a tonic to “increase strength, increase blood volume, promote life and appetite, quite the spirit, and give wisdom.” It was generally thought to improve vitality.
Ginseng and Health Benefits