Ginger extract 20% | Zingiber officinale

Ginger extract 20% | Zingiber officinale

Properties: Ginger is perhaps best known as a spice. Indeed, it is an important ingredient of many popular recipes: from spicy Indian curry, through Japanese sushi, all the way to British ginger beer. However, its distinctive taste might not be the only reason to consume this root. At the end of the day, ginger has quite a lot of other interesting properties. 

Nevertheless, let us begin with food. Who doesn’t like to eat, after all? Unfortunately, there is a downside to this pleasure. Sometimes our appetite becomes a bit excessive (in some cases uncontrolled) and we gain some extra pounds. There is a way, however, to prevent this course of events. As it turns out, ginger is a natural resource that can help us with reducing our appetite! Its active compounds are able to regulate the blood glucose level. In this way, they prevent sudden change of glucose level that are the main reason for our tendency to overeat. Interestingly, when we add ginger to our meal or supplement the extract right before mealtime, we should feel satiated sooner. Thus, this spicy root prevents sudden strikes of hunger and helps us to eat in smaller amounts. But what about these extra pounds we already have? Let’s see.

By eating ginger we start to feel warmer. How does that happen? Simply speaking, the active compounds contained in the root of ginger boost metabolism. What is more, they persuade the organism to gain more energy by burning the fat tissue. In sum, we experience less hunger strikes, our meals get a little smaller, and our undesired pounds start to diminish. But there is still more! If we decide to work out, the effects should be greatly improved. As it turns out, ginger stimulates the production of testosterone – a natural anabolic, actually important for both main genders. Basically, it increases the development of muscle mass. Importantly, it also has analgesic properties – in case we overdo a little with our workout, the sore muscles won’t bother us too much.

There might have been a situation when someone offered you ginger tea claiming that it will warm you up and help to get rid of the common cold much quicker. It certainly will but not because of the heating effect that we described. Firstly, ginger limits the proliferation of fungi, bacteria and viruses that are the main cause of infections. Secondly, it has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. These two combined are much more effective in fighting the cold than the warming effect alone.

We could spend another page or two describing the beneficial properties of ginger. For instance, it lowers the blood cholesterol level, improves the condition of joints, and prevents motion sickness. Moreover, multiple research studies prove that it has a positive impact on our cognitive performance. And that’s not all!

Occurrence: Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a perennial plant that belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. Nowadays, it doesn’t grow in the wild, but is cultivated in many countries, especially in India (the country in charge of 32% of global ginger production). This plant most likely comes from Indonesia and resembles a cane. It creates leafy shoots that reach a height of 1 m and slightly shorter leafless flower shoots. The ginger flowers are gathered in spikes. Before flowering they resemble cones. Ginger plant is characterized by the underground part of the shoot which forms the edible rhizome, divided into bulbous sections with a light yellow, fibrous interior. This rhizome is valued for its health properties and taste.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using ginger for millennia. Its outstanding properties were described in the second volume of “Shennong Bencao Jing”, Chinese medicine textbook written most likely in 2700 BCE. Already then, Chinese herbalists knew that ginger has a warming effect, works well as an analgesic and antiseptic, and is able to stimulate digestion. Ayurveda, traditional Hindu medicine, has applied ginger to soothe many ailments, among others: indigestion, bloating, nausea, respiratory infections as well as arthritis. Ginger was brought to Europe by the Phoenicians – the nation of the greatest merchants and sailors of antiquity thanks to which it’s been used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The ginger’s power of “warming up a chilled stomach and supporting digestion” was described in 1640 by the English herb researcher John Parkinson in “Theatrum Botanicum”.

Biochemistry: The substance to which the ginger rhizome owes its properties is primarily the essential oil responsible for the distinctive aroma – the oil contains high amounts of zingiberene. The oil also includes other sesquiterpenes (curcumen, bisabolene), monoterpene hydrocarbons (borneol, limonene, geraniol), aldehydes (gingerols, shogaol, zingerone) and zingiberol – the main fragrance carrier. In addition, the ginger rhizome contains: lipids, amino acids, organic acids, lecithin, starch as well as micro and macro elements (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, manganese, copper, iron and zinc).

Fun fact: Nowadays, common ginger does not grow in the wild. Instead, it is cultivated. Some sources state that it is even one of the oldest cultivated plants on this planet. The history of ginger plantation might be as old as 5000 years and probably begins in Indonesia. Moreover, ginger is one of the first spices exported from South-East Asia.