[ GINGER ]

GINGER (Zinngiber Officianale Rosc), is one of the earliest Oriental spices known in Europe, ginger has been cultivated in India both as a fresh vegetable and marketed as a dried spice since time immemorial. The fresh, dried or powdered rhizome of a slender, perennial herb, Indian ginger has been acclaimed worldwide for its characteristic taste, flavour & texture.

Ginger has always meant many things to many people. A taste- maker. A flavourant. An appetizer. A drug.
Though grown all over India, the finest quality ginger comes from Kerala endowed as it is with a congenial climate and a rich earthy soil. Indian dry ginger is known in the world market as 'Cochin Ginger' (NUGC) & 'Calicut Ginger' (NUGK). India offers ginger in a variety of forms; oils, oleoresins, fresh ginger in brine, pickles, candies and syrups.

It also comes in garbled/ ungarbled, bleached/unbleached and powder forms. India has a predominant position in ginger production and export.

In our garden we can grow ginger. The smell from the leaf has added feature of driving the snakes. While I was in Dubai I was getting ginger from shopping marts Like Lulu, it was said to be coming from Egypt and seen bigger than Indian variety .

Because ginger is not found in the wild, its origins are uncertain. It is likely to have originated from India as ginger plants there show the most biological variability.

Potted ginger plants were carried on local vessels travelling the maritime trade routes of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea in the 5th century AD and probably before. The plants would have rapidly spread to many other countries along the way.

In the 16th century ginger was introduced to Africa and the Caribbean. It is now cultivated throughout the humid tropics.