ABSTRACT
Ginger has been cultivated and processed in China, where it is used as folk medicine, for more than 3,000 years. Originally from China and India, it has spread to tropical and subtropical areas around the world: southeastern Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Fiji, Oceania (Tahiti), Indonesia, Java, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia (Queensland), South America, Jamaica, Brazil, Argentina, Africa (Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Burkina Fasso), Mauritius, Réunion islands, and elsewhere. By steam distillation or extraction with supercritical carbonic dioxide, ginger rhizome gives an essential oil with a high content of mono-, and sesquiterpene derivatives ( -zingiberene). By extraction with solvents, an oleoresin containing the pungent principles of ginger (gingerols, shogaols, and related compounds) is obtained, as well as the essential oil. Other constituents are vitamins, carbohydrates, lipids, carboxylic acids, amino acids, and minerals. Ginger oil finds much use in food and drink industry; for example, ginger ale, ginger beer, and various cookies and desserts. The oil is also used in small quantities by the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and perfume industry. It is valued for its pleasant aromatic, more or less lemon-like fragrance. It is also described as possessing pungent, spicy, or camphoraceous aromas. Rhizomes are used as stimulants, eupeptics, and carminatives. Ginger capsules can be used to relieve tiredness, to relieve the effects of overwork, to aid digestion, to reduce sexual insufficiency, and to treat motion sickness. With other spices, such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cassia, mace, nutmeg, pimento and cardamon, ginger constitutes about 90% of the world trade in spices. Owing to its interesting medicinal and flavoring properties, ginger has been widely studied and several reviews have been published (Connell, 1970; Opdyke, 1974; Lawrence, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1995, 1997; Imagawa, 1981; Akhila and Tewari, 1984; Ho et al. 1989; Rosella et al., 1996; Germer and Franz, 1997; Ho et al., 1999; Kikuzaki, 2000; Metz and Cupp, 2000; Afzal et al., 2001; Nakatani and Kikuzaki, 2002.
