Description

Ginger of commerce is the dried underground stem of the herbaceous tropical plant grown as an annual. The whole plant is refreshingly aromatic and the underground rhizome, raw or processed, is valued as spice. Ginger is a slender perennial herb, 30-50 cm tall with palmately branched rhizome bearing leafy shoots. The leafy shoot is a pseudostem formed by leaf sheath and bears 8 to 12 distichous leaves.

Origin and Distribution

It is a tropical plant with the centre of origin in India and Malaysia. Now it is widely cultivated in India, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Malaysia, Southern China and Japan.
Ginger requires warm and humid climate and thrives well from sea level to an altitude of 1500 mtrs above MSL. A well distributed rainfall (150 to 300cm) during growing season and dry spells during land preparation and harvesting are required for the crop. Though grows on a wide range of soils, lateritic loams are preferred for higher yields.

Uses

Fresh ginger, dry ginger powder, oleoresin and oil are used in food processing. It is indispensable in the manufacture of ginger bread, confectionary, ginger ale, curry powders, certain curried meats, table sauces, in pickling and in the manufacture of certain cordials, ginger cocktail, carbonate drinks, liquors etc.
In medicine, it is used as carminative and stimulant. It has wider applications in indigenous medicines. The ginger oil is used as food flavourant in soft drinks.

Botanical name Family name Commercial part
Zingiber officinale Roscoe Zingiberaceae The rhizome

Indian Names

• Hindi : Adrak
  Bengali : Ada
  Gujarati: Adu
  Kannada : Shunti, Ardraka
  Malayalam: Inchi
  Marathi : Ale
  Oriya : Ada
  Punjabi : Adrak
  Sanskrit: Ardraka
  Tamil : Inji
  Telugu : Allamu, Sonthi
  Urdu : Adrak, Adhrak

Name in international languages

• Spanish : Jengibre
  French : Gingembre
  German : Ingwer
  Swedish : Ingefara
  Arabic : Zanjabil
  Dutch : Gember
  Italian : Zenzero
  Portuguese: Gengibre
  Russian : Imbir
  Japanese: Shoga
  Chinese : Chiang

Description

Ginger of commerce is the dried underground stem of the herbaceous tropical plant grown as an annual. The whole plant is refreshingly aromatic and the underground rhizome, raw or processed, is valued as spice. Ginger is a slender perennial herb, 30-50 cm tall with palmately branched rhizome bearing leafy shoots. The leafy shoot is a pseudostem formed by leaf sheath and bears 8 to 12 distichous leaves.

Origin and Distribution

It is a tropical plant with the centre of origin in India and Malaysia. Now it is widely cultivated in India, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Malaysia, Southern China and Japan.
Ginger requires warm and humid climate and thrives well from sea level to an altitude of 1500 mtrs above MSL. A well distributed rainfall (150 to 300cm) during growing season and dry spells during land preparation and harvesting are required for the crop. Though grows on a wide range of soils, lateritic loams are preferred for higher yields.

Uses

Fresh ginger, dry ginger powder, oleoresin and oil are used in food processing. It is indispensable in the manufacture of ginger bread, confectionary, ginger ale, curry powders, certain curried meats, table sauces, in pickling and in the manufacture of certain cordials, ginger cocktail, carbonate drinks, liquors etc.
In medicine, it is used as carminative and stimulant. It has wider applications in indigenous medicines. The ginger oil is used as food flavourant in soft drinks.

Botanical name Family name Commercial part
Zingiber officinale Roscoe Zingiberaceae The rhizome

Indian Names

• Hindi : Adrak
  Bengali : Ada
  Gujarati: Adu
  Kannada : Shunti, Ardraka
  Malayalam: Inchi
  Marathi : Ale
  Oriya : Ada
  Punjabi : Adrak
  Sanskrit: Ardraka
  Tamil : Inji
  Telugu : Allamu, Sonthi
  Urdu : Adrak, Adhrak

Name in international languages

• Spanish : Jengibre
  French : Gingembre
  German : Ingwer
  Swedish : Ingefara
  Arabic : Zanjabil
  Dutch : Gember
  Italian : Zenzero
  Portuguese: Gengibre
  Russian : Imbir
  Japanese: Shoga
  Chinese : Chiang