Ginger

Best Quality Ginger

Though it is grown in many areas across the globe, ginger is “among the earliest recorded spices to be cultivated and exported from southwest India”. India holds the seventh position in ginger export worldwide, however is the “largest producer of ginger in the world”. Regions in southwest and Northeast India are most suitable for ginger production due to their warm and humid climate, average rainfall and land space.

Ginger has the ability to grow in a wide variety of land types and areas, however is best produced when grown in a warm, humid environment, at an elevation between 300 and 900 m (1,000 and 3,000 ft), and in well-drained soils at least 30 cm deep. A period of low rainfall prior to growing and well-distributed rainfall during growing are also essential for the ginger to thrive well in the soil.

Ginger produced in India is most often farmed through homestead farming, with work adaptively shared by available family and community members.

Culinary

Ginger is a common spice used worldwide, whether for meals or as a folk medicine. Ginger can be used for a variety of food items such as vegetables, candy, soda, pickles, and alcoholic beverages.

Ginger is a fragrant kitchen spice. Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or cooked as an ingredient in many dishes. They can be steeped in boiling water to make ginger herb tea, to which honey may be added. Ginger can be made into candy or ginger wine.

Nutritional information

Raw ginger is 79% water, 18% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat (table). In 100 grams (a standard amount used to compare with other foods), raw ginger supplies 333 kilojoules (80 kilocalories) of food energy and contains moderate amounts of vitamin B6 (12% of the Daily Value, DV) and the dietary minerals, magnesium (12% DV) and manganese (11% DV), but otherwise is low in micronutrient content (table).

When used as a spice powder in a common serving amount of one US tablespoon (5 grams), ground dried ginger (9% water) provides negligible content of essential nutrients, with the exception of manganese (70% DV).