This topic mainly deals with the medical and medicinal use of ginger. Ginger is a member of the Zingiberaceae family, the ginger plants. It is also still called ginger, imber, evergreen or ginger root. In the English language we find the term ginger for ginger.
Definition
Ginger, which belongs to the Chinese medicinal herbs, is a creeping, perennial plant on a thick, bulbous rootstock. The fresh and dried roots are also called rhizomes. In spring, an upright stem of about 60 to 80 cm height with narrow leaves grows out of the rootstock.
The plant is an annual. At the flowering time, a flower ear develops directly from the ginger root, which carries a white or yellow flower. The medicinal plant ginger, as well as the spice, originate from cultures.
The part of the plant used, the rootstock, grows flat and strongly branched in the soil. For cultivation, pieces of rhizome are put into the ground in spring and harvested a year later in late autumn. The medicinal plant ginger, as well as its Latin name zingiber, can be traced back to the old Indian name “Shringavera”.
For thousands of years, ginger has been valued as a valuable spice and remedy because of its special properties and effects. In ancient Chinese texts, and later in Greek, Roman and Arabic medical literature of antiquity, ginger is already mentioned.
Ginger, the medicinal plant that is used worldwide, has its power in the root. From the yellow-brown rootstock the spice and the healing power are extracted. The share of essential oils is high (e.g. zingiberol and zingibere). Other ingredients of ginger are the pungent substances (gingerol and shoagol), to which the taste is due. The many active ingredients in ginger stimulate the appetite, increase the production of gastric acid, aid digestion and alleviate possible nausea and vomiting.
