Ginger

Ginger or Zingiber officinale is a herbaceous perennial plant from the family of Zingiberaceae that is cultivated for its edible underground stem. The name of Zingiber is from the Greek zingiberis which comes from the Sanskrit name of the spice, singabera. Ginger is native to southeastern Asia and for ancient times it has been known as spice and medicine. Ginger has a brown, corky outer layer with pale-yellow scented center. This spice has a slightly biting taste and is used in dried or ground forms. The use of this spice is for flavour breads, sauces, curry dishes, confections, pickles, and beverages such as ginger ale. 

Manufacturing Process

Ginger comes from the root of its tropical plant that is harvested for about 8 to 9 months after plantation when the plant is mature and the leaves start yellowing. Ginger is harvested by digging the plants, lifting the root from the soil, cleansing them, and drying them in the sun. The dried ginger has an irregular shape, with various colours from dark yellow through light brown to pale buff.

Ginger is a popular spice that has aromatic odor, commonly used as spice and flavouring many dishes, foods, and medicines. Ginger is often used as a seasoning in Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and South Asian recipes from dishes such as seafood, meat, and vegetarian dishes. Ginger is also typically used as flavoring for many cookies, pastry, and beverages. In medicine, ginger is used medically to treat flatulence, colic, and usually as beverages to warm the body.

Grades

The grades for dry ginger are:

Size      : whole pieces

Colour parameters     : light yellow

Moisture         : 14% max

Insect   : 0%

Mould  : 0%

Categorization

Ginger is a herbaceous plant and distributed as spice. Thus, ginger is categorized as spices