One kind of microorganism was isolated and identified from Korean fresh, white and red ginseng, and the effect of a preservative, sodium benzoate on the microorganism and its thermal resistant propertues were studied. The results obtained were as follows. The predominant strain on ginseng and ginseng products was identified as Penicillium sp. The strain showed perithecium structure producing ascospores. The growth of the strain was slightly inhibited at 0.0571 concentration of sodium benzoate. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of sodium benzoate against the strain was 0.26%. The D value of the strain at 56, 59, $62^{circ}C$ were 9.9, 5.0 and 4.5 min, respectively.