ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the origin and distribution, nutritional composition, medicinal values, climatic requirement, soil requirement, cultivated varieties and post-harvest management of zedoary. Zedoary has been in cultivation since prehistoric times and spread and become naturalized throughout India, Southeast Asia, Southern China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines. It can be grown in diverse tropical conditions from sea level to 1500 m elevation at a temperature range of 20–35°C, but most of the species being winter hardy can tolerate temperature as low as 1°C. Zedoary rhizomes are used both in raw and cooked forms. Sometimes, its leaves are used for culinary purposes, especially for cooking fish and the tender young buds as a salad ingredient. Zedoary rhizomes are usually used for the extraction of starch. Spider mites, slugs and snails, mealy bug and root-knot nematode are the insect pests that attack zedoary during growing season. Soft rot, leaf spot and bacterial wilt are the diseases that attack zedoary during its lifetime.
