Review
Some phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): A review of recent research

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Abstract

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberacae) is a medicinal plant that has been widely used in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibb-Unani herbal medicines all over the world, since antiquity, for a wide array of unrelated ailments that include arthritis, rheumatism, sprains, muscular aches, pains, sore throats, cramps, constipation, indigestion, vomiting, hypertension, dementia, fever, infectious diseases and helminthiasis.

Currently, there is a renewed interest in ginger, and several scientific investigations aimed at isolation and identification of active constituents of ginger, scientific verification of its pharmacological actions and of its constituents, and verification of the basis of the use of ginger in some of several diseases and conditions.

This article aims at reviewing the most salient recent reports on these investigations.

The main pharmacological actions of ginger and compounds isolated therefrom include immuno-modulatory, anti-tumorigenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-lipidemic and anti-emetic actions. Ginger is a strong anti-oxidant substance and may either mitigate or prevent generation of free radicals. It is considered a safe herbal medicine with only few and insignificant adverse/side effects.

More studies are required in animals and humans on the kinetics of ginger and its constituents and on the effects of their consumption over a long period of time.

Introduction

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberacae) is widely used around the world in foods as a spice. For centuries, it has been an important ingredient in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibb-Unani herbal medicines for the treatment of catarrh, rheumatism, nervous diseases, gingivitis, toothache, asthma, stroke, constipation and diabetes (Awang, 1992, Wang and Wang, 2005, Tapsell et al., 2006). Several reviews have appeared in the literature about this plant, and this may reflect the popularity of the subject and its common use as a spice and a medicinal plant (e.g. Afzal et al., 2001, Chrubasik et al., 2005). Many reviews have been devoted to specific aspects of ginger’s actions. For example, the review of Grzanna et al. (2005) was on the use of ginger as an anti-inflammatory agent, while that of Shukla and Singh (2007) dealt with the cancer prevention properties of the crude drug. The actions of ginger as a post-operative anti-emetic substance were the subject of a review by Chaiyakunapruk et al. (2006).

Here, the aim was to summarize the more recent and common actions and therapeutic application of ginger and its active constituents.

Section snippets

Chemistry

The constituents of ginger are numerous and vary depending on the place of origin and whether the rhizomes are fresh or dry. It is not our intention in this review to cover all the many compounds reported for ginger, but to summarize the major components that have been implicated in the pharmacological activities of the crude drug.

The odor of ginger depends mainly on its volatile oil, the yield of which varies from 1% to 3%. Over 50 components of the oil have been characterized and these are

Kinetics

Although ginger has been utilized in many studies in both man and animals, there is a relative dearth of information on its disposition in treated subjects.

After bolus intravenous administration at a dose of 3 mg/kg of [6]-gingerol (1), the plasma concentration–time curve was described by a two-compartment open model. [6]-Gingerol was rapidly cleared from plasma with a terminal half-life of 7.23 min and a total body clearance of 16.8 ml/min/kg. Serum protein binding of [6]-gingerol was 92.4% (Ding

Toxicological properties of ginger

Ginger is generally considered a safe herbal medicine (Weidner and Sigwart, 2000). A patented ginger extract EV.EXT 33 was administered by oral gavage in concentrations of 100, 333, and 1000 mg/kg, to three groups of 22 pregnant female rats from days 6 to 15 of gestation. For comparison, a fourth group received the vehicle, sesame oil. Body weight and food and water intake were recorded during the treatment period. The rats were killed on day 21 of gestation and examined for standard parameters

Conclusions

The present review sought to document and comment on the publications that have appeared on ginger and its constituents in the last 10 years or so. The papers reviewed provide another example of how it may be possible to explain the action(s) of folk medicines in terms of conventional biochemistry and pharmacology. Ginger and many of its chemical constituents have strong anti-oxidant actions. As several metabolic diseases and age-related degenerative disorders are closely associated with

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