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Effects of ginseng on in vivo antioxidant capacities with age were studied in rats. All rats were reared in theconventional system. Ginseng-treated rats were supplied with ginseng water extracts (25mg/kg/day) continuously from 6weeks of age to spontaneous death. None of the rats showed any discernible adverse effects of treatment with ginseng-containing water. There was no significant difference in body weight (BW) gains with age between treated and control groups.However, ginseng extracts did cause a decrease in the level of serum low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, glucose, andthiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the treated rats. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase,and glutathione peroxidase in liver cytosol decreased with age in the control group. However, these enzyme activities werewell maintained in the ginseng-treated rats and, especially, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities were consistentlyhigher than in control rats. The levels of total sulfhydryl group (T-SH) and glutathione reductase (GR) were unchanged, andglutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity gradually decreased with age in both groups. There were no differences in T-SH, GR,or GST between the control and treatment groups. These results indicate that long-term administration of ginseng retards age-related deterioration in some biochemical parameters such as cholesterol, glucose, and lactate dehydrogenase in serum and ithas an enhancing effect on antioxidant capacity in the liver.