There is a folk saying “North has Changbai ginseng. There is Gynostemma pentaphyllum in the south”. It shows that Gynostemma pentaphyllum and ginseng have similar effects. Japanese experts have isolated more than 80 kinds of saponins from Gynostemma pentaphyllum. Four of them are the same as ginsenosides and have various pharmacological activities. Domestic medical experts found that Gynostemma pentaphyllum has the basic structure of ginseng saponin, and in the same amount of Gynostemma pentaphyllum and ginseng, Gynostemma saponin is three times higher than ginsenoside. Also contains a large number of isomers of ginsenosides. Has a variety of special pharmacological activities and not available for ginseng.

Pharmacological experiments and clinical applications proven that Gynostemma pentaphyllum has the functions of lowering blood fat, lowering blood sugar, protecting liver, increasing protein synthesis rate, resisting fatigue, anti-stress, anti-hypoxia, cold resistance, increasing appetite, losing weight, increasing plasma ACTH content under emergency conditions, and having obvious anti-aging and anti-ulcer , anti-cancer effect, and has the effect of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and gallstone formation.