ginger

Also known as Zingiber officinale, ginger root

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of leaves) about one meter tall, bearing narrow leaf blades. The inflorescences bear flowers having pale yellow petals with purple edges, and arise directly from the rhizome on separate shoots.

OverviewAI-generated

Zingiber officinale, commonly known as ginger, is a species within the genus Zingiber. It serves as the source of the spice, vegetable, and medicinal plant also called ginger. The taxon is classified under the family Zingiberaceae and is described by Roscoe. Its fruit type is a capsule.

The species has a range including China, Fujian, Guangdong, Maranhão, Assam, China South-Central, and the East Himalaya. It is considered a useful plant and has uses as a spice, vegetable, and medicinal plant. The IUCN conservation status is Data Deficient, as recorded in 2020. Ginger may cause allergic reactions when applied.

The taxon is referenced by 2,319 other encyclopedia articles. There are 7,285 PubMed records for ginger. Common names include garden ginger, 薑, and Cooking Ginger. The water footprint is 1657.

Synthesized by Vinony from 31 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, IUCN Red List, Plants of the World, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Data Deficient

FamilyZingiberaceae

Native toAssam, China South-Central, East Himalaya

Zingiber officinale, the root ginger of commerce, is cultivated in the Hazara region m Haripur and Tret. Also cultivated in the Sind and Punjab Plains. It is always propagated by rhizomes. The rhizomes are dug up while the plant is in the vegetative state and thus it rarely flowers.

via IUCN · Kew POWO

Key facts

Nutritional value.name: Ginger root (raw)
Nutritional value.image: Ginger cross section.jpg
Nutritional value.caption: Cross-section of ginger root
Nutritional value.kJ: 333
Nutritional value.water: 79 g
Nutritional value.protein: 1.82 g
Nutritional value.fat: 0.75 g
Nutritional value.carbs: 17.77 g
Nutritional value.fiber: 2 g
Nutritional value.sugars: 1.7 g
Nutritional value.calcium_mg: 16
Nutritional value.iron_mg: 0.6
Nutritional value.magnesium_mg: 43
Nutritional value.phosphorus_mg: 34
Nutritional value.potassium_mg: 415
Nutritional value.sodium_mg: 13
Nutritional value.zinc_mg: 0.34
Nutritional value.manganese_mg: 0.229

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

7,285 papers

Zingiber officinale var. rubrum: Red Ginger's Medicinal Uses.ReviewMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Zhang S, Kou X, Zhao H et al.DOI: 10.3390/molecules27030775
Gingerols and shogaols: Important nutraceutical principles from ginger.ReviewPhytochemistry · 2015Semwal RB, Semwal DK, Combrinck S et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2015.07.012
Ginger and its constituents in asthma: a mini-review.ReviewThe Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma · 2024Ahmed Abdelmawgood I, Sayed AM, Mohamed OA et al.DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2024.2361779
Ginger for treating nausea and vomiting: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.ReviewInternational journal of food sciences and nutrition · 2024Li Z, Wu J, Song J et al.DOI: 10.1080/09637486.2023.2284647
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and its bioactive components are potential resources for health beneficial agents.Phytotherapy research : PTR · 2021Zhang M, Zhao R, Wang D et al.DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6858
Ginger and Testosterone.ReviewBiomolecules · 2018Banihani SADOI: 10.3390/biom8040119
Some phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): a review of recent research.ReviewFood and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association · 2008Ali BH, Blunden G, Tanira MO et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.085
Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis.Arthritis and rheumatism · 2001Altman RD, Marcussen KCDOI: 10.1002/1529-0131(200111)44:11<2531::aid-art433>3.0.co;2-j

via PubMed

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

24 sections

Contents

Etymology
Origin and distribution
History
Horticulture
Production
Production in India
Ginger farming
Transportation and export of ginger
Uses
Culinary
Asia
North America
Western countries
Middle East
Similar ingredients
Nutrition
Composition and safety
Chemistry
Research
Adverse effects
Gallery
See also
References
External links

Ginger is in the family Zingiberaceae, which also includes turmeric (Curcuma longa), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), and galangal. Ginger originated in Maritime Southeast Asia and was likely domesticated first by the Austronesian peoples. It was transported with them throughout the Indo-Pacific during the Austronesian expansion (), reaching as far as Hawaii. Ginger is one of the first spices to have been exported from Asia, arriving in Europe with the spice trade, and was used by ancient Greeks and Romans. The distantly related dicots in the genus Asarum are commonly called wild ginger because of their similar taste.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ginger” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.