Ginger production guide

Ginger or ginger root is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family (Zingiberaceae). Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. The distantly related dicots in the Asarum genus have the common name wild ginger because of their similar taste. Ginger is an important spice crop of the world. Ginger is an important spice in Asian and western cooking, and has an increasing reputation as a medicinal plant

Its scientific name is Zingiber officinale. It’s a valuable cash crop and plays an important role in aurvedic medicines in India .It has been used for cleaning body through perspiration, to calm down nausea, and to stimulate the appetite. Ginger tea is used as carminative and in the symptomatic treatment of colds. Ginger contains gingerol, an oleo resin that accounts for the characteristic aroma and therapeutic properties. Components of gingerol posses beneficial properties for the treatment of poor digestion, heart burn, vomiting and preventing motion sickness.

India is one of the prime producers of ginger. From pots in gardens to large-scale, mechanised operations, it is cultivated on a local and commercial scale. It is grown on a smaller extent in Bangladesh and Pakistan. In India there are at least 400 different cultivars, each with varying properties such as the level of potent ginger oil.