Quality Assessment methods for Ginger (Zingiber officinale): A review

Abstract

The rhizome of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a commonly used edible vegetable, condiment, and spice that are used worldwide for culinary, nutritional, medicinal and industrial purposes. Its great medicinal and economical value provide a great possibility for contamination and adulteration. Closely related species are usually used mistakenly as ginger and are hardly differentiated. A proper method of quality control is required for its authentication and analysis. This review discusses various techniques employed for the quality control of ginger including different chromatographic and spectroscopic methods, DNA profiling in addition to the application of multivariate analysis. The advantages and drawbacks of each method are presented as well as recommendations for improved quality assessment.