Description
Plant Description
Ginger, Zingiber officinale, is an erect, herbaceous perennial plant in the family Zingiberaceae grown for its edible rhizome (underground stem) which is widely used as a spice. The rhizome is brown, with a corky outer layer and pale-yellow scented center. The above ground shoot is erect and reed-like with linear leaves that are arranged alternately on the stem. The shoots originate from a multiple bases and wrap around one another. The leaves can reach 7 cm (2.75 in) in length and 1.9 cm (0.7 in) broad. Flowering heads are borne on shorter stems and the plant produces cone shaped, pale yellow flowers . The ginger plant can reach 0.6–1.2 m in height (2–4 ft) and is grown as an annual plant. Ginger may also be referred to as true ginger, stem ginger, garden ginger or root ginger and it is believed to have originated in the Southeast Asia.
Use:
Ginger has been a popular spice and herbal medicine for thousands of years. It has a long history of use in Asian, Indian, and Arabic herbal traditions.
Ginger is popularly used as a spice in cooking and can be used either fresh, dried or powdered.
The ginger has a slightly biting taste and is used to flavour breads, sauces, curry dishes, confections, pickles, and ginger ale. The fresh rhizome, green ginger, is used in cooking. The peeled rhizomes may be preserved by boiling in syrup. In Japan and elsewhere, slices of ginger are eaten between dishes or courses to clear the palate.
Ginger contains about 2 percent essential oil; the principal component is zingiberene and the pungent principle of the spice is zingerone. The oil is distilled from rhizomes for use in the food and perfume industries.
Benefits:
In China, ginger has been used to help digestion and treat stomach upset, diarrhea, and nausea for more than 2,000 years. Ginger has also been used to help treat arthritis, colic, diarrhea, and heart conditions, help treat the common cold, flu-like symptoms, headaches, and painful menstrual periods.
Ginger contains chemicals that might reduce nausea and swelling. These chemicals seem to work in the stomach and intestines, but they might also help the brain and nervous system to control nausea.
People commonly use ginger for menstrual cramps, osteoarthritis, diabetes, migraine headaches, and other conditions.