Saturday, July 25, 2009

Zingiber Officinale to What is known as Ginger

Zingiber Officinale to What is known as Ginger







Ginger is a tuber. It also can be consumed whole as a delicacy, medicine or as spice for cooking or tea. It is an underground stem of the ginger plant, Zingiber Officinale. Ginger was originated in Asia, now can be found in India, Southeast Asia, West Africa and the Caribbean.

Medical uses:
The medical form of ginger is called as “Jamaica Ginger”. It was classified as a stimulant and carminative, and was used frequently for dyspepsia and colic. Ginger is generally recognized as safe in the list of FDA since it does interact with some medications, including warfarin.

Ginger promotes the release of bile from the gallbladder which contraindicated in people suffering from gallstones. Ginger also does decrease joint pain from arthritis (studies on this matter have been inconsistent), and may have blood thinning and cholesterol lowering properties that may be useful for treating heart disease.

Diarrhea is the leading cause of infant death in developing countries which ginger compounds are active against it, since Zingerone is likely to be active constituent against enterotoxigenic and Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin-induced diarrhea.

Nausea, caused by seasickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy, can be treated with ginger since ginger has been found effective in multiple studies for treating nausea.


Chemical in Ginger:




1. Gingerol is a relative of capsaicin, the compound that gives chile peppers their spiciness, which can be found in ginger. Cooking it will transform gingerol into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma.

Gingerol is the compound that reduce nausea (caused by motion sickness or pregnancy) and may also relieve migraine.
As for the animals tested in the lab, gingerol also increase motility of the gastrointestinal tract, and also have analgestic, sedative, antipyretic and anti-bacterial properties.





2. Zingerone, also known as vanillyacetone, the principal organic compound which gives the pungent taste of the ginger. Zingerone can be obtain after cooking the ginger, which is responsible for the antidiarrheal efficacy of ginger.




3. Shogaol is a pungent constituent of ginger similar chemical structure to gingerol. Just like zingerone, can be obtain when the ginger is dried or cooked.

The name “shogaol” is derived from the Japanese name for ginger (生姜、shōga).




Side question:

Does ginger bread man made ginger bread sound?

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