人参与西洋参同为五加科人参属名贵药材，主要有效成分均为人参皂甙，两者既相似又相异。国内外对其形态、解剖及化学鉴别方面已有不少报道，但因几无质的差异，因而在实际应用中，尤其对已破坏了外形的器官仍然十分困难。为杜绝药源混淆，以薄层层离法揭示：人参不含奥克梯隆醇型假人参皂甙（pseudo－ginsenoside）24（R）－F11，而西洋参则明显含有。从而为有效地鉴别人参与西洋参及其茎、叶和茎叶总皂甙等提供了可靠的方法。

It has been shown by TLC that American Ginseng contains substatial amount of pseudoginsenoside F11,while Ginseng is devoid of such content .Therefore, it offered a very convennient and effective method to distinguish Ginseng from American ginseng (root, stem,leaf and their saponin extracts).