GINGER
Ginger is a perennial herb which grows from underground rhizomes, often mistakenly called the roots. It's the rhizome that provides us with its slightly hot, citrus-like taste and wonderful aroma. Its botanical name is Zingiber officinale andt its family name is Zingiberaceae.
One popular theory has it that ginger was first found in Southeast Asia. A Swedish botanist gave it the name Zingiber officinale.
Ginger is one of 1,400 species of the Zingiberaceae family which include spicies such as turmeric and cardamon. Its value has been written about in the literature of ancient Asia and Europe and the Middle East. Spanish explorers were mostly responsible for taking ginger to other countries and introducing it to the New World.
Considered one of the world's favorite spicies, ginger today has many varieties. Each variety has its own unique taste and aroma depending upon where and how it is grown. Pungent varieties can be in Africa and milder varieties are grown in china.
There are four main classifications of ginger's anatomy: pungency (taste), fragrance (essential oil), nutrients, and synergists.
Pungency. Ginger's taste holds some of its most medicinal qualities. It contains an oily-resinous substance called gingerol. It has been broken down into about 30 elements, the most notable being the gingerols and shogaols. Fresh ginger contains gingerols which change into the more pungent shogaols when exposed to air and heat. This chemical change is one of the most important aspects of ginger's therapeutic value, and one of the more complex.
Fragrance. Ginger's fragrance is a mixture of opposites" citrusy to sweet. The warm, spicy scent comes from its essential oil, which makes up about 1.0 to 2.5 percent of the rhizome. One researcher has documented 200 different components of the essential oil.
Nutrients. Ginger's nutritional value includes lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and trace nutrients. In some places ginger is used as vegetable because it contains potassium, phosphorus, vitamin C, and riboflavin. It is said to stimulate gastric juices and provide warming and soothing effects for colds and coughs.
Synergists. These make up the last class with hundreds of ingredients which interact to produce ginger's ultimate effect. Within this category is a protein-digesting enzyme called zingibain. This enzyme is one of nature's richest proteolytic enzymes. Other constituents include capsaicin, curcumin, and limoneme, which have an array of physical effects.
Ginger contains approximately one to four percent volatile oils. Its medically active constituent is reponsible for its distinct taste and odor.
The following are just among ginger's many varied effects and uses in our bodies" stimulates digestion, tones intestinal muscles, protects the stomach from the side effects of alcohol and certain drugs, helps prevent ulcers, alleviates nausea and reduces vomiting, reduces risk of atherosclerosis, inhibits platelet aggregation, promotes circulation especially during cold season, helps heal burns, helps ease joints as well as muscle and nerve pains, improves liver function, and lowers cholesterol.
Ingredients
1 kilo ginger
sugar
Procedure
1. Wash then grind ginger.
2. Squeeze out the ginger extract into a cup.
3. Mix ginger extract with sugar. (Yield of the extract varies, but proportion should be 1/2 cup sugar for every 1 cup ginger extract.)
4. Boil mixture until it becomes dry and forms itno granules.
5. Pound or grind the product.
6. Store in a glass container for future use.
