Ginger

Ginger, an indigenous plant, is an important spice crop of the world. It is valued in medicine as a carminative and stimulant of the gastro-intestinal tract. Dry ginger is used for the manufacture of oil, oleoresin, essence, soft drink, non-alcoholic beverages and vitaminesed effervescent soft drinks. India is the largest producer and exporter to more than 50 countries accounting for more than 70% of world production.

The botanical name of ginger is Zingiber officinale L. which belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. Ginger is a herbaceous perennial with underground rhizomes having serial leafy shoots of 0.5 to 0.75m height; leaves sheathy, alternately arranged, linear with 15 cm long and sessile flowers borne on a spike, condensed, oblong and cylindrical with numerous scar bracts; flowers numerous yellow in colour with dark purplish spots, bisexual, epigynous, stamens only one, ovary inferior, three carpelled; fruit an oblong capsule, seeds glabrous and fairly large.