TY - JOUR
T1 - Plants of the genus zingiber as a source of bioactive phytochemicals
T2 - From tradition to pharmacy
AU - Sharifi-Rad, Mehdi
AU - Varoni, Elena Maria
AU - Salehi, Bahare
AU - Sharifi-Rad, Javad
AU - Matthews, Karl R.
AU - Ayatollahi, Seyed Abdulmajid
AU - Kobarfard, Farzad
AU - Ibrahim, Salam A.
AU - Mnayer, Dima
AU - Zakaria, Zainul Amiruddin
AU - Sharifi-Rad, Majid
AU - Yousaf, Zubaida
AU - Iriti, Marcello
AU - Basile, Adriana
AU - Rigano, Daniela
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Plants of the genus Zingiber (Family Zingiberaceae) are widely used throughout the world as food and medicinal plants. They represent very popular herbal remedies in various traditional healing systems; in particular, rhizome of Zingiber spp. plants has a long history of ethnobotanical uses because of a plethora of curative properties. Antimicrobial activity of rhizome essential oil has been extensively confirmed in vitro and attributed to its chemical components, mainly consisting of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons such as α-zingiberene, ar-curcumene, β-bisabolene and β-sesquiphellandrene. In addition, gingerols have been identified as the major active components in the fresh rhizome, whereas shogaols, dehydrated gingerol derivatives, are the predominant pungent constituents in dried rhizome. Zingiber spp. may thus represent a promising and innovative source of natural alternatives to chemical food preservatives. This approach would meet the increasing concern of consumers aware of the potential health risks associated with the conventional antimicrobial agents in food. This narrative review aims at providing a literature overview on Zingiber spp. plants, their cultivation, traditional uses, phytochemical constituents and biological activities.
AB - Plants of the genus Zingiber (Family Zingiberaceae) are widely used throughout the world as food and medicinal plants. They represent very popular herbal remedies in various traditional healing systems; in particular, rhizome of Zingiber spp. plants has a long history of ethnobotanical uses because of a plethora of curative properties. Antimicrobial activity of rhizome essential oil has been extensively confirmed in vitro and attributed to its chemical components, mainly consisting of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons such as α-zingiberene, ar-curcumene, β-bisabolene and β-sesquiphellandrene. In addition, gingerols have been identified as the major active components in the fresh rhizome, whereas shogaols, dehydrated gingerol derivatives, are the predominant pungent constituents in dried rhizome. Zingiber spp. may thus represent a promising and innovative source of natural alternatives to chemical food preservatives. This approach would meet the increasing concern of consumers aware of the potential health risks associated with the conventional antimicrobial agents in food. This narrative review aims at providing a literature overview on Zingiber spp. plants, their cultivation, traditional uses, phytochemical constituents and biological activities.
KW - Essential oil; rhizome
KW - Food preservatives
KW - Herbal remedies
KW - Traditional healing systems
KW - Zingiber; ginger
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85040342222
U2 - 10.3390/molecules22122145
DO - 10.3390/molecules22122145
M3 - Artículo de revisión
C2 - 29207520
AN - SCOPUS:85040342222
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 22
JO - Molecules
JF - Molecules
IS - 12
M1 - 2145
ER -
