September 2016 SPDS Book

AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Dietary Supplements: Background and Fitness for Purpose for Ginger

Anton Bzhelyansky AOAC 2016 Annual Meeting – Dallas, TX, USA SPDS September 16, 2016

Ginger Plant

The ginger plant is a herbaceous perennial grown as an annual crop. The plant is erect, has many fibrous roots, aerial shoots (pseudostem) with leaves, and the underground stem (rhizome). Ginger ( Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a sterile, reed-like plant with t d ti hi hi h it li f t ti a pungen an aroma c r zome on w c re es or vege a ve propagation. The plant is a cultigen, that is, it is only known from cultivation. Its wild origins are not known with certainty but are believed to be India or South-East Asia. Ginger rhizome, known as Rhizoma Zingiberis in pharmacy is used in several traditional systems of medicine, including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and Western herbal medicine. Its traditional uses cover a great variety of complaints including dyspepsia, flatulence and colic, nausea and vomiting, colds and flu, migraine, as well as muscular and rheumatic disorders.

Wohlmuth,H 2008, 'Phytochemistryand pharmacology of plants from the ginger family,Zingiberaceae', PhD thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.