Zingiber officinale - Ginger to you and me!!

Ginger – Zingiber officinale

Ginger has been used by humans for around 5,000 years.  It is thought to have been cultivated originally in China with evidence of use by the ancient Romans and Greeks.  Currently, it is cultivated in Asia, East Africa and the Caribbean.  

Ginger is eaten as a candy, used as a spice and administered medicinally.   We are most familiar with ginger in teas, ginger ale, gingerbread, gingered candy, in curries, in stir fries, and as gingersnap cookies.    There are six forms of ginger:

• ·     Fresh: generally used in cooking and teas;
• ·     Dried ginger: the root is dried whole or in slices and re-hydrated when used; 
•        Pickled: think sushi where thin, colored slices of ginger are used as a condiment;
• ·    Preserved: chunks are preserved in a sugar-salt mixture;
• ·    Crystallized: cooked in sugar syrup until tender and rolled in sugar, eaten as a candy;
• ·    Ground ginger: ginger root dries and powdered.  Used primarily in cooking and is very different from fresh ginger in flavor.

According to research preformed at the University of Michigan, the essential oil gingerol, which gives ginger its characteristic smell, is strong antioxidant which calms the digestive tract.  When ginger is eaten, gingerol blocks serotonin receptors in your tummy which cause nausea.  Additionally, over the past 25 years, ginger has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory agent. 

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (US Department of Health and Human Services) states ginger:

• ·         Safely relieves pregnancy related nausea and vomiting;
• ·         Has shown mixed results alleviating motion sickness and nausea related to chemotherapy or surgery;
• ·         Has shown unclear results treating rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, joint and muscle pain.

Side effects of use are minimal and include gas, bloating, heartburn and nausea.  Interestingly, these symptoms are attributed to powdered verses fresh ginger use. 

Wikipedia reports overdosing on ginger (3/8 cup for 100 pounds body weight) will result in “ginger Jitters”.  It seems you can over stimulate your system and become intoxicated on the spice!!

Ever since I was young, I thought drinking ginger ale would settle my stomach and knock back any feelings of nausea.  Turns out this is supported by scientific evidence!  However, there is a catch: the ginger ale you drink has to have been made with real ginger.  A quick googling of ginger ale and ingredients will tell you only the custom or boutique ginger ales are made with real ginger.  Schweppes, Canada Dry, Seagram’s – all the main brands are made from ginger flavoring, not the real thing.  So, if your child or grandchild has a rumbly tummy, grabbing ginger ale will probably make them happy: any bubbly, sugary drink will!! ~ but you have to get the real thing to actually settle their stomach.  

Locally, we have a native plant called “Wild Ginger”.  Asarum canadense is native to most of the eastern US, up into Canada and west to Texas and the Dakotas.  We know it as wild ginger, Canadian snake root or Canada wild ginger.  A low growing ground cover, wild ginger loves shade in slightly acidic, moist, rich woods, has no significant insect or deer problems, and makes a lovely addition to your woodland garden.  

Amos Oliver Doyle, CC-BY-SA-3.0

 The rhizomes smell like ginger when crushed and have been used by Native American and early colonists as a food flavoring and medicine.   Folk lore has wild ginger treating everything from soup to nuts and it is important to note modern testing has shown the root to contain aristolochic acid, a known carcinogen.  Eating quantities of the root is not advisable. 

The US Forest Service has a neat summary of fun facts regarding wild ginger which is quoted below:

“The color and the location of the flower have an unusual and interesting story. The flower evolved to attract small pollinating flies that emerge from the ground early in the spring looking for a thawing carcass of an animal that did not survive the winter. By lying next to the ground flower is readily found by the emerging flies. The color of the flower is similar to that of decomposing flesh. Whether these flies pollinate the flower or not is in some dispute. Never the less they do enter the flower to escape the cold winds of early spring and to feast upon the flowers pollen. Some of the pollen attaches to their bodies and is taken with them when they visit the next flower. 

Jason Hollinger, Wikipedia

When the seeds finally ripen, they have a little oily food gift attached to the seed; this appendage is called an “elaiosome.” The “elaiosomes” attract ants that carry the seeds off to their underground home where they consume the tasty food and leave the seed to germinate. The ecological advantage is that the seeds are not predated upon by seed-eating animals."

(US Forest Service  - http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asarum_canadense.shtml)

Personally, I love this plant.  It is one of the first to flower in the spring and is fun to point out to friends and family when hiking in the woods.  There is a lovely patch of wild ginger in the Mundy Wildflower Garden behind the native lawn.  Check it out on your next walk through the gardens. 

Written and research by Jean Gerow 3/10/2013