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Quality Assessment Methods For Ginger Zi-1
Quality Assessment Methods For Ginger Zi-1
2(2):78-96
Review Article
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo 11566, Egypt
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.
*Correspondence | Mai T. Abdo; Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
Email: mai.tawfik@pharma.asu.edu.eg
Citation | Mai TA, Haidy AG, Sherweit HE, Mohamed MA. 2018. Quality Assessment methods for Ginger (Zingiber officinale): A review. Arch
Pharm Sci ASU 2(2): 78-96
DOI: 10.21608/aps.2018.18737
Online ISSN: 2356-8380
Print ISSN: 2356-8399
Journal no. 1
Copyright: © 2018 Abdo et al. This is an open-access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY
4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited
Published by: Ain Shams University, Faculty of Pharmacy
chromatography (GC). Cited examples for the techniques for the quality control of ginger are
application of different chromatographic summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Application of different chromatographic techniques for the quality control of ginger
(4:6, v/v)
Water: Acetonitrile
Ethyl acetate and ethanolic HPLC-UV Analysis of 6-, 8-, 10-gingerols and 6-
extracts shagoal in ethyl acetate and ethanolic
extracts of ginger-containing dietary (24)
Mobile phase:
supplement, teas, spices, and drinks.
Methanol: Water (6.5:3.5, v/v)
Acetonitrile: Water
In 2010, Khan et al. adopted an RP-HPTLC Regarding its use in the quality control of
method for quantitative analysis of 6, 8 and 10- ginger, HPLC was shown to be the most
gingerols from the methanol extract of fresh commonly used technique, however;
ginger rhizomes collected from northwestern quantification requires authentic reference
Himalayas [17]. markers including gingerols and shogaols.
In 2011, Salmon et al. used HPTLC for In 1985, Baranowski developed the first
fingerprinting analysis of Jamaican ginger and to HPLC method for the quantitative analysis of
chemically profile four Jamaican ginger cultivars. ginger using the spectra of authentic 6-gingerol
In addition, this developed method was applied for identification. The results showed that this
for comparing the composition of oleoresins of method could be used for rapid analysis of ginger
ginger collected at different aging stages (7, 8 and pungency, detecting changes during drying,
9 months) from eight geographical regions of processing and possible detection of adulteration
Jamaica. Furthermore, stability investigation [19].
showed a noticeable change of the chemical
Chen et al. (1986) designed an HPLC method
constituents of ginger samples stored at 70C, for the analysis of acetone extracts of both green
which was observed by apparent differences in (4-5 months after planting) and dry ginger (8-9
the HPTLC profile. This analysis revealed that months after planting). The gradient elution
the oleoresins stored at 4 C and 25 C were programming used in this study showed a better
stable for a minimum of 6 months. In addition, separation than the isocratic elution suggested by
the study identified 6, 8, 10-gingerols and 6- Baranowski. The results showed that different
shagoal as reference markers that could be used concentration ranges of pungent gingerol
for the standardization of ginger products. The compounds offered a possible reference to
results indicated chemical homogeneity of the differentiate or evaluate the maturity of raw
four cultivars together with aging samples materials [20].
collected from different parts of Jamaica. As a
conclusion, the study presented this method is In 1998, He et al. utilized electrospray mass
suitable for rapidly detecting the authenticity and spectrometry for the first time with HPLC-UV to
quality of the ginger products. However, HPTLC identify the individual constituents responsible
showed a major disadvantage of low for the pungency of fresh ginger methanolic
reproducibility as well as the chemical extract. Electrospray mass spectrometry provides
resemblance among the four cultivars. On the an advantage of analysis of thermo-labile
other hand, the HPLC investigation (discussed compounds including gingerols. The results
later) showed significant variance in total showed that UV at 280 nm was more selective for
pungency levels and content of the essential oil the detection of gingerols and shogaols rather
[18]. than 230nm as previously reported [21].
Later on, Balladin et al. (1998) adopted an
2.1.3. High-performance liquid HPLC method for the detection of the pungency
chromatography of fresh, sun-dried and sun-dried/steam distilled
HPLC is considered one of the primary tools ginger rhizomes in a relation to the content of 6-
of quantitative analysis. It has been applied either gingerol. Reference standards of synthetic [n]-
for obtaining characteristic chemical fingerprints gingerols, [n]-shogaols synthesized using regio-
and chemical profiling for quantitative purposes. selective aldol condensation of zingerone and
86 Abdo et al., Arch Pharm Sci ASU 2(2):78-96
corresponding aldehyde (verified by NMR and 6-, 8- and 10-gingerols as reference standards
spectroscopy) were used. The method was for their detection in dried, baked and fresh
established to detect the level of the pungency of ginger [25].
extracted ginger oleoresin, detection of any
Tandem mass spectrometry along with HPLC
contaminants and stability studies of marketed
(LC-MS/MS) was adopted by Tao et al. (2009)
ginger oleoresins [22].
for the identification and quantitative analysis of
The first report of utilizing nuclear magnetic gingerols, shogaols, parasols, and gingerdiones in
resonance spectroscopy coupled with high- the chloroform extract of ginger-containing
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC- dietary supplements. This method was also used
NMR) was by Saha et al. (2003). Through NMR, for the quantification of 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol,
unidentified peaks were detected without the 10-gingerol, 6-shogaol, 8-shogaol, and 10-
need for referenced standards as necessitated by shogaol with selected reaction monitoring in
previous methods. Moreover, this study involved ginger dietary supplements. In this study,
the use of superheated water chromatography constant neutral loss scanning in the range m/z
with deuterium dioxide (D₂O) as an eluent for the 80-500 was investigated for the detection of
separation of ginger extract, avoiding interfering selective neutral loss for gingerols. Results
signals with the spectra of the analytes. The showed that neutral loss scanning of 194 or 136 u
analysis showed spectra for vanillin, can be used to detect specifically most gingerol-
dihydroferulic acid, zingerone and ferulic acid related compounds (except for gingerols), that
[23]. was in spite of the complex nature of ginger
extracts [9].
Later, in 2007, Schwertner et al. adopted
HPLC for the analysis of 6-,8-,10-gingerols and In 2010, another electrochemical array
6-shagoal in ethyl acetate and ethanolic extracts detector (ECD) coupled with HPLC method was
of ginger-containing dietary supplement, teas, reported by Shao et al. for quantification of 8
spices, and drinks. It was found the amounts of 6- known ginger components (6-, 8-, and 10-
gingerol and 6-shagoal obtained from both gingerol, 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaol, 6-paradol, and 1-
extracts were similar. However, ethyl acetate was dehydrogingerdione) in 11 ginger-containing
selected as the extraction solvent due to its marketed products. This study showed that the
immiscibility with water and thus could be used use of ECD was advantageous over the use of
to extract ginger-containing drinks. Furthermore, electrospray or UV detectors due to its high
ethyl acetate having lower polarity than ethanol sensitivity for redox-sensitive components as
would likely cause minor co-extraction found in ginger. However, there was one
interference. The study also compared the use of disadvantage of requiring a constant level of
C-8 against C-18 reverse phase columns and electrolyte within a suitable range in the mobile
concluded C-8 to give better resolution for phases [26].
quantification of 6-, 8-, 10-gingerols and 6-
In 2012, Time-of-flight mass spectrometry
shagoal using external standards rather than the
(TOF) coupled with HPLC was first used and
C-18 column [24].
reported by Park et al. for instantaneous isolation,
In 2008, Li et al. used an HPLC-DAD method detection, and quantitative analysis of gingerol-
for simultaneous determination of 6-, 8- and 10- related compounds in ginger products. Ethyl
gingerols in three gingers samples. The acetate extracts of fresh and powdered dry
developed method involved using C-18 column gingers, hot water ginger extracts, and ginger teas
Quality Assessment methods for Ginger (Zingiber officinale) 87
were the topic of investigation. This method In 1988, Chen et al. used GC-MS for the
showed 70-100 times higher sensitivity when analysis of volatile constituents of ginger oil
compared to the ordinary HPLC-UV detection extracted with liquid carbon dioxide used to
method. However, this study could not compare overcome the thermal instability that might occur
the sensitivity of the LC-TOF/MS method due to steam distillation [28].
directly with that of LC-MS/MS. Furthermore,
In 1995, Nishimura utilized a modified
this method identified 19-gingerol-related
multidimensional GC-MS for determining the
compounds (4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-gingerols,
compounds responsible for the characteristic odor
methyl-6-, methyl-8-, and dehydro-6-, dehydro-8,
of Japanese ginger. Aroma extraction dilution
dehydro-10-, and dehydro-12-gingerols, dehydro-
analysis was used for the detection of the flavor
6-, dehydro-8-, dehydro-10-, dehydro-12-,
dilution factor (FD). Compounds with high FD
dehydro-14-gingerdione, and 6-, 8-, and 10-
appeared to have the most noticeable flavor in the
shogaols), which is much more than any other
fresh rhizomes of ginger. These compounds
previously reported method. This study also
included geranial, geraniol, linalool, neral,
supported the previous hypothesis suggesting that
borneol, and isoborneol. In addition new
shogaols are not intrinsic components of fresh
compounds including (E)-2-alkenals, 2-octyl
authentic ginger but are considered chemical
acetate, 2-pinen-5-o1,2-(2',3'-epoxy-3'-methyl
degradation products of gingerols during ginger
butyl)-3-methylfuran, and (E)- and (Z)-3,7-
processing and exposure to heat [27]. The use of
dimethy1-3,6-octadienal were also identified.
LC-TOF/MS allowed for the ability of untargeted
This study showed that the characteristic flavor of
detection with the all-time recorded full
ginger was not related particularly to one
spectrum, which was not possible with LC-
compound but a mixture of highly flavored
tandem MS. Thus, this method could be used for
oxygenated compounds (monoterpenoids and
the detection of low levels of gingerols and
(E)-2-alkenals) [29].
shogaols in ginger-containing commercial
products [27]. Solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) was
used by Shao et al. in 2003 for the extraction of
2.1.4. Gas chromatography (GC) the volatile oil from both fresh ginger and
crystallized ginger sweets. Two-dimensional gas
Gas chromatography has been widely used for
chromatography was used for the identification
the detection of volatile constituents and is
and qualitative comparison of their volatile
considered the first choice in the quantitative
constituents. Both fresh and sugar crystallized
analysis of essential oils and volatile substances.
ginger, showed the same heavy compounds,
Regarding ginger, GC has been used mainly for
however, sugar crystallized ginger sweet showed
the analysis and identification of its volatile
lower content of components of higher volatility.
components rather than its quality control. This is
Concerning pungent principles, this method could
mainly due to the inability to detect pungent
detect neither gingerols nor shogaols, as
components of ginger due to their thermal
gingerols are thermally unstable and shogaols are
instability [26]. Studies using gas
rarely found in fresh ginger [30].
chromatography were performed for either
overcoming this problem or investigating a better In 2007, Yu et al. used GC-MS following
extraction method for the volatile constituents of microwave distillation and solid-phase
ginger. microextraction (MD–SPME) for the analysis of
volatile oil compounds in fresh ginger. MD-
88 Abdo et al., Arch Pharm Sci ASU 2(2):78-96
the RAPD bands unique to Z. officinale. Longer Recently, Chaudhary et al. (2014) tried to
species-specific PCR primers were developed overcome the disadvantages of the previous
using this sequence information to amplify method by developing a loop-mediated
specific SCAR markers for distinguishing Z. isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based marker
officinale from the other selected Zingiber method for DNA authentication of Zingiber
species, as well as commonly used medicinal officinale and studied their suitability for the
plants in ginger-containing commercial products. analysis of fresh, dried powder and
Furthermore, these SCAR markers were tested in multicomponent ginger-containing formulations.
Trikatu [a mixture of dried, semi-processed The method involved twelve rhizome samples of
powders of Z. officinale, Pi. nigrum (Black ginger and closely related species screened with
pepper) and Pi. longum (Long pepper)] as well as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD).
individual powders of each of the three medicinal The procedure involved eluting, cloning and
plants to ensure that it specifically amplifies the sequencing of the common noticeable DNA
desired marker in Z. officinale. In addition, fragment in all samples. This developed method
SCAR primers were run on DNA samples of was recommended for use when botanical
some other commonly used Ayurvedic medicinal authentication of ginger from closely
plant species that are likely to be found with morphologically related species was difficult,
ginger in multicomponent formulations. The such as in the case of incomplete or damaged
developed method was proposed as a samples and in dried herbal products [38]. Cited
complementary tool for differentiating Z. examples for the application of different DNA-
officinale from other Zingiber species [36]. The based markers for the quality control of ginger
disadvantages of this method included the use of are summarized in Table 2.
sophisticated instrumentation as PCR, gel
analysis and long analysis time.
In 2004, Gong et al. used two-dimensional of the classifying model and it was found that
GC-MS coupled with chemometric analysis for 94% of all the samples were correctly classified
the determination of volatile components in both [44].
fresh and dried ginger. Chemometric analyses
Feng et al. (2014) used HPLC-PDA for
were used to correct the baseline drifting, detect
fingerprint analysis of 10 batches of ginger from
the purity of the obtained peaks, identify the
different markets in China coupled with the
number of the chemical constituents present and
chemometric techniques including similarity
moreover, enhance the resolution of the produced
analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis and
chromatograms and mass spectral data. The
principal component analysis of the ginger
results showed that most of the volatile
samples. The results showed that chemometric
constituents of fresh and dried ginger are similar
analyses classified 10 batches of ginger to two
despite their different pharmacological activities
groups reflecting quality differences between
[42].
these samples [39].
Later on, He et al. (2010) used the same
Later on, Yudthavorasit et al. (2014) adopted
previous approach (42)for the detection of
an HPCL-DAD method combined with
differences between volatile constituents of the
chemometrics for classification of ginger
essential oil of fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale
(Zingiber officinale) according to geographical
Roscoe), dried ginger (Rhizome Zingibers) and
origins including five different producing
scarfskin of fresh ginger (Ginger peel). A total of
countries. This method involved the use of 6-, 8-,
85, 81 and 80 volatile constituents were
10-gingerols as the reference standard. The
determined from the three essential oils,
chromatographic peaks were identified using
respectively with 52 volatile components were
mass spectrometry and eight particular peaks
common between the three oils. In conclusion,
identified by mass spectrometry were used for
the study proved this method as effective for the
further discriminative analysis. Chemometric
analysis of complex systems as Chinese
analyses were performed using similarity
traditional medicine and can be used successfully
analysis, HCA, PCA, and linear discriminant
for the quality assessment of products in the food
analysis (LDA). The method showed to be a
industry [43].
practical tool that was suitable for originating and
In 2013, Rafi et al. used reverse phase authentication of unclassified ginger samples. In
capillary liquid chromatography (RP-CLC) for addition, it could be used to detect quality control
instantaneous determination of four components and food authenticity concerns regarding ginger
(6-, 8-, 10-gingerol and 6-shogaol) found in origin by analyzing unknown ginger samples and
ginger. Thirty-seven samples of three varieties of processing the produced data with chemometrics.
ginger growing in Indonesia (Z. officinale var. Furthermore, this study showed that different
amarum), (Z. Officinale var. office-Narum) and markers could be used for specifying of ginger
(Z. officinale var. rubrum) were studied. The from different geographical origin, where 8-
results showed that the four compounds were not gingerol and methyl- 6-gingerol are selective
enough to distinguish between the three varieties. markers for detecting ginger from India and
By applying discriminant analysis (DA), 100% Thailand, respectively while methyl diacetoxy-8-
correct classification of each analyzed group gingerdiol, 10-gingerol, and diacetoxy-8-
(three varieties) was achieved. Cross-validation gingerdiol can be specifically used as markers for
was used for evaluation of the predictive ability Chinese ginger [45].
92 Abdo et al., Arch Pharm Sci ASU 2(2):78-96
Recently, Maiset al. (2018) used UPLC- showed identification of sixteen metabolites were
Q/TOF-MS coupled with Metabolomics as an identified, from which six metabolites were
approach for discrimination between two ginger assigned as marker compounds for differentiation
cultivars (China) and (Ghana). This study applied between Ghanaian and Chinese ginger. As a
the use of identified metabolites of ginger, conclusion, this method was reported as a reliable
isolated using UPLC, together with multivariate and successful method for interspecies
analysis for the discrimination between two differentiation between ginger cultivars.
ginger cultivars. Principle component analysis However, more samples are needed for wide
(PCA), Orthogonal Partial least square regression coverage of different ginger cultivars for accurate
and Soft independent modeling by class analogy detection of the exact metabolites that can be
(SIMCA) were used for data analysis. The results used in its discrimination (Table 3) [46].
Table 3. Quality control of ginger using chromatographic techniques coupled with chemometrics
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