Ground ginger is used to refine a variety of dishes such as soups or salads. It goes well with tea and is often a central ingredient in spice mixtures. It is obtained by grinding dried ginger and, depending on the drying process, it is still considered a raw food. However, like many spices, it will lose its flavor taste over time.
Culinary uses:
Ginger produces a hot, fragrant kitchen spice. Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or cooked as an ingredient in many dishes. They can be steeped in boiling water to make ginger herb tea, to which honey may be added. Ginger can be made into candy or ginger wine.
Mature ginger rhizomes are fibrous and nearly dry. The juice from ginger roots is often used as a seasoning in Indian recipes and is a common ingredient of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and many South Asian cuisines for flavoring dishes such as seafood, meat, and vegetarian dishes.
From Wikipedia: Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of six to one, although the flavors of fresh and dried ginger are somewhat different. Powdered dry ginger root is typically used as a flavoring for recipes such as gingerbread, cookies, crackers and cakes, ginger ale, and ginger beer. Candied ginger, or crystallized ginger, is the root cooked in sugar until soft, and is a type of confectionery. Fresh ginger may be peeled before eating. For longer-term storage, the ginger can be placed in a plastic bag and refrigerated or frozen.1
Nutritional information:
Raw ginger is composed of 79% water, 18% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat. In 100 grams (a standard amount used to compare with other foods), raw ginger supplies 80 Calories and contains moderate amounts of vitamin B6 (12% of the Daily Value, DV) and the dietary minerals, magnesium (12% DV) and manganese (11% DV), but otherwise is low in nutrient content.
When used as a spice powder in a common serving amount of one US tablespoon (5 grams), ground dried ginger (9% water) provides negligible content of essential nutrients, with the exception of manganese (70% DV).1
Composition and safety:
If consumed in reasonable quantities, ginger has few negative side effects. It is on the FDA's "generally recognized as safe" list, though it does interact with some medications, including the anticoagulant drug "warfar.." and the cardiovascular drug, "nifedipi..".
Biological effects:
Ginger has a sialagogue action, stimulating the production of saliva, which makes swallowing easier.
Medicinal use and research:
The evidence that ginger helps alleviate chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is inconclusive and it is not recommended for clinical use for this or for any type of nausea. Studies have found no clear evidence of harm from taking ginger during pregnancy, though its safety has not been established and it is a suspected risk for mutagenicity.
Allergic reactions to ginger generally result in a rash. Although generally recognized as safe, ginger can cause heartburn and other side effects, particularly if taken in powdered form. Unchewed fresh ginger may result in intestinal blockage, and individuals who have had ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, or blocked intestines may react badly to large quantities of fresh ginger. It can also adversely affect individuals with gallstones and may interfere with the effects of anticoagulants, such as "warfarinum" or aspirin.
Ginger is not effective for treating dysmenorrhea, and there is no conclusive evidence for it having analgesic properties.
Ginger properties depend on a number of factors, such as cultivar, plant segment, and preparation method (dried or cooked).1
General information:
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or simply ginger, is widely used as a spice or a folk medicine.
It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual stems about a meter tall bearing narrow green leaves and yellow flowers. Ginger is in the family Zingiberaceae, to which also belong turmeric (Curcuma longa), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), and galangal. Ginger originated in the tropical rainforests from the Indian subcontinent to Southern Asia where ginger plants show considerable genetic variation. As one of the first spices exported from the Orient, ginger arrived in Europe during the spice trade, and was used by ancient Greeks and Romans. The distantly related dicots in the genus Asarum are commonly called wild ginger because of their similar taste.1
Literature / Sources:
- Wikipedia. Ginger [Internet]. Version dated May 8, 2018 [Quoted May 28, 2018] Available from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger
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