Abstract: Rare ginsenoside compound K (CK) is a non-natural diol-type saponin. It is a metabolic product from other diol-type saponins in human intestine. Due to its anti-tumor and other beneficial effects, plenty of ginsenoside CK are needed to meet the needs of medical care and scientific research. For this resson, attempts have been done to produce ginsenoside CK effectively under human controlled conditions. In this paper, we review recent progress on ginsenoside CK preparation by microbial transformation, with the purpose to provide some references for future development of better methods to produce ginsenoside CK.

Key words: ginseng, ginsenoside CK, microbiao transformation