Zingiber officinale Roscoe: Ginger

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a major rhizome spice and medicinal crop and belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. The spicy gingerols usually occur in oil cells of the rhizome as pungent yellow oil but can also form a crystalline solid with low melting point. Further important aroma compounds are the sesquiterpenes bisabolene, zingiberene, zingiberol, sesquiphellandrene and curcurmene, which contribute in moderate quantity to the flavour of ginger. Ginger plays an important role in Indian Ayurvedic medicine as a folk remedy to promote cleaning of the body through perspiration, to calm nausea and to stimulate treatments of colds. Ginger is a clonally propagated crop. Therefore, this species is bred through introduction, selection, mutation and polyploidy breeding. But also biotechnological approaches are being used for improving the ginger cultivars in India and other parts of world.