GingerPro - Ginger [Zingiber officinale] root 5% gingerols [HPLC] powder extract

Key Facts

• GingerPro is a premium quality extract of naturally grown manually harvested ginger.

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Background

Zingiber Officinale is a root crop, better known as ginger. It is believed to have originated in East Asia. Ginger has been cultivated and widely used as a spice and also as an important ingredient for traditional Chinese and Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine.
Harvesting of ginger for culinary purpose starts 180 days after planting. However, for the production of dry ginger powder and preparation of ginger oil, oleoresin, dehydrated and bleached ginger the rhizomes are harvested at full maturity i.e., when the leaves turn yellow and start drying.
Ginger has been used in traditional oriental medicine for the treatment of various conditions including inflammation, rheumatic disorders, and gastrointestinal discomforts. Numerous research and clinical studies have demonstrated that ginger and its extracts possess a range of biological and pharmacological activities, including immuno-modulatory, anti-tumorigenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-lipidemic, anti-emetic and anti-oxidative effects.
Ginger contains pungent phenolic substances, aromatic ketones known collectively as gingerols, which are considered to be the most pharmacologically and physiologically active components (de Lima et al., 2018). It is these gingerols that provide the spice to ginger. Another bioactive component of ginger are shogaols, and these also exhibit health benefits (Semwal et al., 2015).

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At present, we have the two following variants of GingerPro

GingerPro - Ginger [Zingiber officinale] root 5% gingerols [HPLC] powder extract

GingerPro G2 - Ginger [Zingiber officinale] root 2% gingerols [HPLC] (4 to 1) powder extract

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Chemistry

Gingerols are a series of chemical homologs differentiated by the length of their unbranched alkyl chains. Of all gingerols, 6-gingerol has been found to be the most active. 6-shogoal has a very similar structure to 6-gingerol except that that 6-shogaol contains a β-hydroxy keto moiety on its side chain and 6-gingerol possess an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety.

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Brief identification of the various gingerols and shogaols present in GingerPro

6-gingergol

CAS - 23513-14-6
Molecular Formula - C17H26O4
Molecular Weight - 294.4 g/mol
IUPAC – (5S)-5-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)decan-3-one

8-gingerol

CAS - 23513-08-8 Molecular Formula - C19H30O4
Molecular Weight - 322.4 g/mol
IUPAC - (5S)-5-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)dodecan-3-one

6-shogaol

CAS - 555-66-8
Molecular Formula - C17H24O3
Molecular Weight - 276.4 g/mol
IUPAC - (E)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)dec-4-en-3-one

10-gingerol

CAS - 23513-15-7
Molecular Formula - C21H34O4
Molecular Weight - 350.5 g/mol
IUPAC - (5S)-5-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)tetradecan-3-one

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Ginger and Health

It appears that ginger and its metabolites accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract, so it is unsurprising that many of its biological effects are in this area.

Antioxidant effect

Ginger extract has substantial antioxidant activity as explored in multiple in vitro and in vivo test systems. In various antioxidants assays, gingerols exhibited substantial scavenging activities against DPPH, hydroxyl and superoxide radicals; and also inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in humans.
Research has shown that the antioxidant properties of ginger can reduce insulin resistance in diabetic individuals by enhancing glucose transport and improving glucose tolerance (Mahluji et al., 2013). This antioxidant effect of ginger may exhibit neuroprotective effects on the brain and may potentially aid the management of memory loss in individuals with amnesia and Alzheimer’s disease (Sahardi & Makpol, 2019).

Anti-inflammatory effect

Ginger has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting cyclooxygenase-2, an enzyme largely responsible for causing inflammation, as well decreasing the production of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α and IL-β (Sahardi & Makpol, 2019).

Anticancer activity

The anticancer activities of ginger and its actives have been associated with their antioxidant activities (Bode & Dong, 2011). Ginger is effective in controlling and inhibiting the extent of colon, gastric, ovarian, liver and skin cancers. Consumption of ginger allows recovery and reduces the side effects of chemotherapy on human body. As well as this, gingerols have been known to be exert an anti-tumorigenic effect by increasing apoptosis of tumour cells (Sahardi & Makpol, 2019).

Digestive health

Consumption of ginger and its product assist in reducing indigestion, constipation and ulcers, thought to maybe be due to its positive effects on trypsin, pancreatic lipase and its ability to increase gastric motility (Bode & Dong, 2011). As well as this, ginger has a history of use to alleviate nausea and studies have shown that it is fairly effective at alleviating nausea as well as vomiting, associated with a variety of conditions (Mowrey & Clayson, 1982; Bode & Dong, 2011).

Bioavailability enhancer

Due to fact that Ginger has a powerful effect on the gastrointestinal mucous membrane it can regulate the intestinal function to facilitate absorption and can therefore be a bioenhancer (Kesarwani & Gupta, 2013). It has also been discovered that gingerols enhances the bioavailability of Curcumin. Gingerols have also been reported to enhance the bioavailability of several nutraceutical drugs such as vitamins A, E, C, Folic acid, b-carotene, silymarin, isoleucine, zinc and potassium (Platel & Srinvasan, 2015).

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References

1. Bode AM, Dong Z. The Amazing and Mighty Ginger. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2011. Chapter 7.
2. de Lima, R., dos Reis, A., de Menezes, A., Santos, J., Filho, J., Ferreira, J., de Alencar, M., da Mata, A., Khan, I., Islam, A., Uddin, S., Ali, E., Islam, M., Tripathi, S., Mishra, S., Mubarak, M. and Melo-Cavalcante, A., 2018. Protective and therapeutic potential of ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract and [6]-gingerol in cancer: A comprehensive review. Phytotherapy Research, 32(10), pp.1885-1907.
3. Kesarwani, K. and Gupta, R., 2013. Bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin: An overview. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 3(4), pp.253-266.
4. Mahluji, S., Ostadrahimi, A., Mobasseri, M., Attari, V. and Payahoo, L., 2013. Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Zingiber Officinale in Type 2 Diabetic Patients. Adv Pharm Bull ., 3(2), pp.273-6.
5. Mohd Sahardi, N. and Makpol, S., 2019. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in the Prevention of Ageing and Degenerative Diseases: Review of Current Evidence. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2019, pp.1-13.
6. Mowrey, D. and Clayson, D., 1982. MOTION SICKNESS, GINGER, AND PSYCHOPHYSICS. The Lancet, 319(8273), pp.655-657.
7. Platel, K. and Srinivasan, K., 2015. Bioavailability of Micronutrients from Plant Foods: An Update. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 56(10), pp.1608-1619.
8. Semwal, R., Semwal, D., Combrinck, S. and Viljoen, A., 2015. Gingerols and shogaols: Important nutraceutical principles from ginger. Phytochemistry, 117, pp.554-568.