Background: Angelica gigas is a valuable medicinal crop widely used in traditional medicine because of its pharmacological properties, particularly its bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth characteristics, yield, and indicator compound content of A. gigas roots grown using different cultivation methods and explore the potential utilization of discarded root segments.
Methods and Results: Field experiments were conducted to compare the growth performance, yield, and compound composition between the two cultivation methods. Conventional field seedling cultivation (CFS) roots exhibited significantly greater length and weight than plug-seedling cultivation (PS) roots, leading to a higher yield per area (449.3 ㎏ vs. 269.1 ㎏). However, the cultivation using CFS required a longer growth period of approximately 3 years, whereas the crop could be harvested within a year with PS. Root diameter classification showed that body and thick roots, i.e., the larger root segments, comprised a higher proportion of the total yield in CFS. In contrast, PS yielded a greater proportion of smaller segments (medium and thin roots). The indicator compound analysis revealed that medium and thin roots had significantly higher levels of decursin, decursinol angelate, and nodakenin under both cultivation methods, with thin roots meeting the Korean Pharmacopoeia standard despite being discarded as a by-product.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that while CFS offers a higher yield per unit area, PS provides time efficiency and reduces cultivation periods, making it a practical alternative for modern agricultural systems. Additionally, the high indicator compound content in the discarded root segments highlighted their potential for repurposing in medicinal and functional product development.