Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry  ISSN 2089-6514 (paper) 
Volume 12, Number 1, April 2023 | Pages: 371-389 | DOI: 10.14421/biomedich.2023.121.371-389 ISSN 2540-9328 (online) 
 

 

 

 

Medicinal Biospecificity of Ginger and Its Efficacious 

Bioactive Compounds in the Context of Its Biological Activities Against 

Predominant Health Issues: Current Study and New Avenues 

 
Haseeba Shahzad1,4,*, Shaifa Saleem1, Waqas Hanif2, Zareena Ali3, Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmed4,  

Haq Nawaz4, Zelle Humma3,5, Laraib Rana6, Muhammad Qamar Farid7, Hajira Kalsoom1, Samavia Jaan1 
1School of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan. 

2Department of Pathology, Combined Military Hospital, Bannu, Pakistan. 
3Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, The Women University Multan, Pakistan. 

4Department of Biochemistry, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan. 
5Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genoa, Italy. 

6Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological sciences Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan. 
7Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. 

 

 

Corresponding author* 
haseebashahzad388@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

Abstract 

 

There is a multitude of life-threatening and widespread health issues worldwide, regarding weak immunity, severe inflammation, viral 

infections, bacterial infections as well as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), high free radicals generation, and cancer. Ginger, a perennial 

plant of the Zingiberaceae family with several authentic nutritional and medicinal values used in many countries as traditional medicine. 

That is why, the study was designed to highlight recent studies about medicinally most efficacious bio-active compounds of ginger along 

their biological significance related to immuno-stimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer 

effects. Our study also recognized future gaps in research. The study included professional research data under duration from 2001-2022 

appearing in books and scholarly journals, collected from scientific database platforms via PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, 

Springer Nature, Science Direct and Scopus. The present study includes the medicinal effects of almost 44 most influential ginger 

compounds like phenolics, terpenoids, flavonoids, and vinyllyl ketonic compounds etc. Our results revealed the strong alleviating effects 

of gingerols, shogaols, paradols, and polyphenols. Moreover, the ginger essential oil has proven to be very effective both for antiviral and 

antibacterial activity. However, no data is available in previous literature for components of ginger involved in immuno-stimulatory, 

effects. There is also a need to explore components for antibacterial activity. However, research has been conducted on ginger for only a 

few viruses despite its strong alleviating effects. Besides this, more study is needed to comprehend the comprehensive mechanism of 

action (especially at the molecular level) regarding the anti-bacterial and anti-viral activity of ginger and its constituents. 

 

Keywords: Anti-bacterial; Anti-cancer; antioxidant; antiviral; Immunostimulatory; Anti-inflammatory; Ginger bioactive compounds; new 

avenues; mechanism of action. 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 
 

Herbal medicines’ use is increasing as compared to the 

use of chemicals day by day, therefore, more research 

has been performed on phytochemicals to make them 

more effective for the intervention of various ailments 

(Ishiguro et al., 2007). But it is very troublesome to 

explore the effectiveness of herbal treatment because of 

the presence of many compounds in various forms 

(Raynor et al., 2011). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is an 

Angiospermae and belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. 

Its rhizomes are widely used as a spice and traditional 

medicine in many countries like the subcontinent and the 

United States (Shahrajabian et al., 2019). Due to the 

diverse phytochemistry of ginger, the components of 

ginger are classified as volatiles and non-volatiles. 

Volatile components of ginger include sesquiterpene and 

monoterpenoid hydrocarbons which provide a distinct 

taste and aroma to ginger while the non-volatile pungent 

components include shogaols, paradols and zingerone 

(Jolad et al., 2005). Ginger has diversified nutritional and 

medicinal importance. The general nutritional and non-

nutritional components of ginger and their quantities 

have been represented in table 1. Ginger contains more 

than 400 different compounds. The major compounds 

present in ginger are terpenes, phenolic compounds, 

carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, gingerols, and shogaols. 

There are many phytochemicals present in ginger that 

play an effective medicinal role. The major classification 

of phytochemicals has been represented in figure 1 and 

Manuscript received: 04 January, 2023. Revision accepted: 19 April, 2023. Published: 24 June, 2023. 

https://doi.org/10.14421/biomedich.2023.121.371-389
mailto:haseebashahzad388@gmail.com


 

 
 

372 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

the structures of major bioactive compounds of ginger 

have been depicted in figure 2. Moreover, the oil extract 

of ginger has been observed to contain e-citral, z-citral, 

ocimene, and camphene (Munda et al., 2018). 

Ginger shows a wide range of prophylactic and 

curative functions. It suppresses the level of cholesterol 

in the blood, prevents excessive clotting, is used to treat 

dyspepsia, and improves appetite (Palatty et al., 2013). 

Other properties of ginger include fat loss, prevention of 

cardiovascular diseases, anti-cancer, and anti-

inflammatory action (Elshater et al., 2009). Gingerols 

play an important role in the alleviation of arthritis and 

pain. Ginger also possesses antioxidant, antimicrobial, 

and anti-allergic properties because of the presence of 

gingerols and shogaols (Semwal et al., 2015). Ginger is 

consumed as a painkiller for chest pain, menstrual pain, 

and back pain. It is utilized to cure cough, bronchitis, and 

upper respiratory tract infections (Shukla & Singh, 

2007). Besides this, in China and many other countries, 

ginger is used for the treatment of rheumatism, nervous 

disorders, toothache, stroke, asthma, constipation, 

catarrh, gingivitis, diabetes, and migraine. Due to its 

antiviral properties and warming effect, it is also used for 

relieving flu and colds (Qidwai et al., 2003). Moreover, it 

is also used as a stimulant, diuretic, and carminative in 

Asian medicines (Shadmani et al., 2004). Ginger 

essential oil has proved to be very effective, particularly 

concerning antibacterial and antiviral activity (Koch et 

al., 2008; Mostafa et al., 2018). The constituents present 

in ginger essential oil and their percentage have been 

represented in table 2. Besides this, the strong effects of 

ginger oleoresin, particularly, regarding antioxidant 

activity have been observed (Ji et al., 2017).  

In previous literature, there is abundant data available 

regarding various effective and authentic medicinal 

approaches of ginger for various ailments but there is no 

such review available, in which data has been analyzed 

with a special focus on recent studies (2001-2022) 

regarding specificity of ginger bioactive compounds with 

respect to its biological activities to demonstrate the 

immuno-stimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-

bacterial, antioxidant and anticancer effects. Besides this, 

no data is available in past in which after the most recent 

study (up to 2022), a future research gap got identified. 

This review has been planned to keep in view the most 

common and serious health problems and their 

intervention issues of the day. Our review will provide 

valuable data for drug manufacturers to isolate the 

bioactive components of ginger for manufacturing herbal 

drugs against particular disorders. Besides this, it will 

also provide new pathways for the researchers to fulfill 

the future gap to remove the hot issues of the day easily. 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1. General composition of Ginger (Agriculture, 2018; Nawaz et al., 

2018). 

 

Components Value per 100g 

Water 78.89g 

Carbohydrates 17.77g 

Total Lipids 0.75g 

Proteins 1.82g 

Ash 0.77g 

Total Dietary Fiber 2.0g 

Total Phenolic acids 0.63g 

Total Tannins Content 0.28g 

Total Flavonoid Content 3.93g 

Ca 16mg 

Fe 0.60mg 

Mg 43mg 

P 34mg 

K 415mg 

Na 13mg 

Zn 0.34mg 

Vitamin C 5.0mg 

Choline 28.8mg 

 

 

 

 
 

Figure 1. Classification of major phytochemicals present in Ginger 
(Ghasemzadeh et al., 2010; Shukla & Singh, 2007). 

 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  373 
 

 

 
Figure 2. Structures of major phytochemicals present in Ginger (drawn by 

chem draw). 

 
Table 2. Representation of percentage composition of constituents of 

ginger essential oil. 
 

Compounds % Reference 

β-Bisobeolene 12.5 

(Varoni et al., 2018) α-Zingiberene 25 

β-Sesquiphellandrene 18 

β-Phellandrene 8 

(Ferreira et al., 2018) α-Zingiber 24 

Geraniale 15 

Farnesene 7.6 

(Singh et al., 2008) 
Geraniale 26 

α-Zingiberene 9.5 

Neral 7.4 

1,8-cinerol 10 

(Snuossi et al., 2016) 
Camphene 12 

α-Zingiberene 7 

β-Phellandrene 11 

Camphene 5 

(Mesomo et al., 2013) 
ar-Curcumene 11.3 

Eucalypto 3 

Geraniale 11 

β-Cedrene 8.6 

(Moreira da Silva et al., 

2018) 

Geraniale 16 

Geranyl acetate 8.4 

z-Citral 9.2 

Zingiberene 14 

(Borah et al., 2017) 
β-Sesquiphellandrene 27 

α-Farnesene 10.5 

Caryophyllene 15.3 

β-Bisabalene 11 

(Wang et al., 2006) 
α-Zingiberene 20 

β-Sesquiphellandrene 13 

ar-Curcumene 15 

Citral 7.5 

(Nogueira de Melo et 

al., 2011) 

ar-Curamene 59 

α-Zingiberene 7.5 

1,8-Cinerol 8 

Farnesene 7.6 

(Chmit et al., 2014) 
Geraniale 26 

Neral 7.4 

α-Zingiberene 9.5 

 

Table 3. Representing the percentage composition of constituents of ginger 

oleoresin by different methods (Supardan et al., 2012). 

 

Components Composition (%) Method 

Nortrachelogenin 6.74 

Ultrasonic-

assisted 

extraction 

Ar-curcumene 8.9 

β-sesquiphellandrene 5.02 

Zingerone 13.85 

Shogaol 7.92 

Farnesene 6.29 

Soxhlet 

Zingiberene 5.13 

Zingerone 14.47 

β-sesquiphellandrene 5.44 

Shogaol 7.14 

β-sesquiphellandrene 6.54 

CO2 

Supercritical 

Zingiberene 16.77 

Geraniol 9.01 

Gingerol + shogaol 3.48 

β-phellandrene 12.86 

 

 

GINGER AS AN IMMUNO-STIMULANT 
 

Immunostimulant is an agent that aids in increasing the 

body’s immune-response. Immunity is defined as the 

body’s ability to resist infection or toxins by the action of 

sensitized white blood cells and specific antibodies 

(Divangahi et al., 2021). Immune-deficiency leads to 

various abnormalities and disorders including DiGeorge 

syndrome, chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, 

interleukin-12 receptor deficiency, hyper-

immunoglobulin M syndrome, severe combined 

immunodeficiency disease, leukocyte adhesion 

deficiency syndrome, chronic granulomatous disease, 

and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, etc (Vaillant & Qurie, 

2021).  

Ginger exhibits immuno-stimulatory and anti-

infection properties against pathogenic bacteria, worms, 

and viruses (Sanderson et al., 2002). It also shows its 

immunomodulatory effects in animals, like fish (Nya & 

Austin, 2009). White blood cells (WBC) are considered 

to be primary defenders of the body. In an experiment, 

when the rainbow trout were fed with ginger, an 

increased number of WBC, neutrophils, and other blood 

cells was observed (Nya & Austin, 2009). It has been 

noticed that herbal plants boost immunity by elevating 

the number of blood cells (Sahu et al., 2007). Like 

humans, fishes also have specific and nonspecific 

defense systems to protect themselves against microbes. 

In fishes, mucus and skin are the primary non-specific 

defenses. When any pathogen enters the body both 

humoral and cellular defenses are activated and 

phagocytosis is part of non-specific immunity. The 

increased phagocytotic activity of WBCs was observed 

in fishes fed with ginger (Haghighi & Rohani, 2013). The 

phagocytotic activity was compared in two groups of 

fish. In a group of fishes, with a 0.1% ginger diet, the 

mean phagocytosis index was  2.21±0.082 while it was 

greater, 2.37±0.263 in fishes fed with a 1% ginger diet 



 

 
 

374 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

(Dugenci et al., 2003). Besides this, plasma proteins that 

play a role in humoral defense were also found to 

increase. It was concluded that both humoral and cellular 

immunity were enhanced by using ginger extract in the 

case when any pathogen entered the body through injury 

(Dügenci et al., 2003). When plasma protein level was 

compared between two groups of fishes, it was observed 

that in a group with a 0.1% ginger diet the level of 

protein in fishes was 2.26±0.2541(g/dl) while it was 

significantly greater, 3.84±0.13(g/dl) in fishes fed with 

1% ginger diet (Dugenci et al., 2003).  Ginger shows 

immunomodulatory effects due to the presence of 

gingerols, shogaols, zingerone, and paradols (Rasmussen, 

2011). It has been observed that 6-gingerol suppressed 

the expression of TNF-α and iNOS by blocking PKC and 

NF-кB signaling pathways in macrophages of 

lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mice (Lee et al., 2009). It 

has been reported that PKC stimulates NF-кB which in 

turn regulates the iNOS expression at the transcriptional 

level (Simon et al., 2015). Similarly in another study, 6-

gingerol was observed inhibiting the iNOS expression 

and NO production in activated macrophages of J774.1 

mice (Ippoushi et al., 2003). In another study, 6-gingerol 

inhibited the formation of IL-12, TNF-α, and IL-1β in 

macrophages as well (Tripathi et al., 2007). The other 

mechanistic actions of ginger as an immunostimulant are 

represented in figure 3.  

 

 

 
 

Figure 3. Mechanistic action of immune-stimulatory effects of ginger 

(Shokr & Mohamed, 2019). (Upward arrow-indicating the enhancing 
activity, Downward arrow-indicating the reducing activity) 

 

 

GINGER AS AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY 
 

When inflammation happens, certain chemicals from the 

white blood cells of the body enter tissues to protect 

them from invaders. This increases the blood flow to the 

site of damage or infection and thus causes redness. 

Besides this, the leakage of fluid in tissues by certain 
chemicals results in swelling as well (Varela et al., 

2018). Sometimes, acute inflammation (uncontrolled) 

may become chronic and leads to a variety of 

inflammatory disorders including bowel and 

cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and arthritis (Zhou et al., 

2016).  

Ginger has proved to be very beneficial for the 

intervention of inflammatory disorders. Ginger shows 

strong anti-inflammatory activity due to the presence of 

vinyllyl ketonic compounds. Besides this, 6-paradol, 6-

shogaol, and 1-dehydro-6-gingerol are the constituents of 

ginger that have been observed to cause an anti-

inflammatory effect (Ezzat et al., 2018). The anti-

inflammatory mechanism of the actions of ginger 

connecting its constituents has been illustrated in table 4. 

Many enzymes are involved in causing inflammation like 

lipoxygenase shows its action by forming inflammatory 

lipid mediators such as hepoxilins, hydroxy fatty acid 

derivatives, lipoxins, and leukotrienes (Kuhn et al., 

2007). Cyclooxygenase is involved in the formation of 

prostaglandins and thromboxane. Ginger shows its action 

by decreasing the effect of cyclooxygenase, 

lipoxygenase, and arachidonic acid (Lantz et al., 2007). 

In the experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis, more 

anti-inflammatory action has been noticed by combining 

both gingerols and ginger extract oil as compared to 

gingerols alone (Funk et al., 2009). In inflammatory 

bowel diseases (IBD) which include ulcerative colitis and 

Crohn's disease, an elevated level of TNF and PGE2 has 

been observed (Nakamura et al., 2006) because both 

diseases are responsible for inflammation (Kawahara et 

al., 2015). Ginger shows a protective effect against IBD 

by decreasing the level of both TNF and PGE2 (El-Abhar 

et al., 2008). In one study, TNF-α expression was 

compared in two groups of rats. In one group, liver 

cancer was induced by a choline-deficient diet and in the 

other group, a choline-deficient diet was given along 

with ginger extract. It was observed that the expression 

of TNF-α in rats with only a choline-deficient diet was 

83.3 ± 4.52% while it was reduced in the group, that was 

also given the ginger diet along with choline-deficient 

diet where it was 7.94 ± 1.32% (P< 0.05). Similarly the 

expression of NFκB was also observed in both these 

groups and it was observed that it was 88.3 ± 1.83% in 

group with only choline-deficient diet and it was 

significantly reduced in group that was also given ginger 

diet along with choline-deficient diet where it was  32.35 

± 1.34% (p<0.05) (Habib et al., 2008). Besides this, 

ginger has been observed to reduce the symptoms of gout 

(Grzanna et al., 2005) and also relieve osteoarthritis of 

the knee  (Altman & Marcussen, 2001).  

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a 

protein that is involved in inflammation. Inflammation is 

also associated with the increased level of RANTES 

production which activates the T cells (Appay & 

Rowland-Jones, 2001) due to which the formation of IL-

2 and IFN-ϒ also increases. In an experiment, when 

ginger was given to rats with high RANTES levels, it 

was observed that ginger not only reduced inflammation 

and restricted T-cell activation but also suppressed the 

level of RANTES and MCP-1( macrophage 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  375 
 

 

inflammatory protein) (Ezzat et al., 2018). Besides this, 

the anti-inflammatory role of ginger oil has been noted 

by inhibition of IL-1α (Zhou et al., 2006). 6-gingerol 

decreases NO production by inhibiting cytokines (IFN-γ 

and TNF-α) that stimulate the production of NO (Amri & 

Touil-Boukoffa, 2016). Gingerol and shogaol inhibit the 

activity of prostaglandin synthetase enzymes and thus 

suppress the formation of prostaglandin. They also 

inhibit the action of cytokines i.e IL-1 and IL-8 that are 

involved in inflammation (Verma et al., 2004). The 

comparison of factors involved in inflammation and 

counter effects of ginger has been shown in figure 4 in a 

nutshell. 

 

 

 
Figure 4. Comparison of factors involved in causing inflammation and therapeutic effects of ginger in a nutshell (Ezzat et al., 2018; Verma et al., 2004; 
Zhou et al., 2006). Abbreviations: TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; NFKB: nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells; IL: Interleukin; IFN: 

Interferon; PGE-2: Prostaglandin E-2; MCP-1: Monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1; RANTES: regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and 
secreted.  (Upward arrow-indicating increasing activity, Downward arrow-indicating decreasing activity) 

 

 

 

Table 4. Representing the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of ginger connecting its constituents. Abbreviations: NO, nitric oxide; TNF-α, tumor necrosis 

factor α; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; GDNPs, ginger-derived nanoparticles. 
 

Sr. 

No. 
Ginger/Constituents Dose Research Subjects Mechanism of action Reference 

1 6-gingerol-rich fraction 50 & 100 

mg/kg 

Female specie Wistar 

rats 

Levels of NO, TNF-α and 

myeloperoxidase enzyme, enhance 

(Abolaji et al., 2017) 

2 Extract of Ginger and 

zinger-one 

0.1,1, 

10&100 

mg/kg 

Female specie 

(BALB/c mice) 

Reduces the level of IL-1β and 

inhibits the stimulation of Necrotic 

factor-κB 

(Hsiang et al., 2013) 

3 6-shogaol 100 μM Human intestinal 

epithelial cells 

(HT29/B6, Caco-2) 

Ceased the PI3K/Akt, NF-κB 

signaling pathways 

(Luettig et al., 2016) 

4 GDNPs  0.3 mg Female mice 

(C57BL/6 FVB/NJ) 

By using GDNPs 2, levels of IL-10 

and IL-22 and level of TNF-α, IL-6, 

and IL-1β decrease. 

(Zhang et al., 2016) 

5 Extract of Ginger 50 

mg/mL 

Mice (C57BL6/J) Ginger extract prevents the 

production of TNF-α and Activates 

the Akt & NF-κB. 

(Ueno et al., 2014) 

6 6-gingerol, 6-

dehydroshogaol, 6-

shogaol 

2.5 and 

5,10 μM 

Macrophage cells of 

the mouse (RAW 

264.7) 

NO, PGE2 production is stopped. (Zhang et al., 2013) 

 

 

 

GINGER AS AN ANTIVIRAL 
 

The World health Organization (WHO) and other public 

health agencies have warned about the emergence of 
infectious diseases at alarming rates that have not been 

previously noted (Organization, 2021). The centers for 

disease control and prevention (CDC) elaborates on 

emerging infectious diseases. Among all categories of 

infectious diseases, viral agents are the most serious 

threat to global populations (Prevention., 2021). The 21st 

century is marked by major pandemics and epidemics 
due to novel viral agents that have been the source of 

mortality and morbidity around the world such as Ebola 

virus, Zika virus,  Middle-Eastern Respiratory Syndrome 



 

 
 

376 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

(MERS), influenza A (H1N1) pdm/09, Human 

Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Middle-Eastern 

Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), West Nile virus, 

chikungunya virus and currently severe acute respiratory 

syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Ong et al., 2020). 

Besides this, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a critical 

illness. HCV may lead to acute or chronic hepatitis and 

principally causes liver cancer. Universally, 

approximately 58 million human beings have chronic 

HCV infection. According to an approximation of WHO, 

almost 290 000 human beings expired from hepatitis C in 

2019. At present, no efficient vaccine exists against 

hepatitis C (WHO, 2022) and Pakistan is ranked second 

after China which is suffering from hepatitis at an 

alarming rate. In 2018, a very alarming prevalence rate of 

hepatitis C virus was observed in small towns in Pakistan 

(Ahmed et al., 2020).  

In China, fresh ginger is used as a folk medicine for 

the treatment of airway infections. Ginger shows 

antiviral activity against various types of viruses like 

human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) and it has 

been observed that the effects of dried ginger are 

different from fresh ginger against HRSV because both 

dried and fresh ginger contain different constituents. 

Fresh ginger shows better results against the virus as 

compared to dried ginger (Jolad et al., 2005). HRSV 

causes lethality and death by inducing bronchiolitis and 

pneumonia (San Chang et al., 2013). Ginger reduces viral 

invasion by preventing the attachment and internalization 

of the virus into the cells. At high concentrations, fresh 

ginger stimulates the low respiratory tract mucosal cells 

to secrete IFN-b, the cytokine which inhibits the 

replication of viruses (Ali et al., 2008). Experimental 

studies have shown that an aqueous extract of ginger also 

reduces the infectivity of feline calicivirus (FCV). 

Antiviral activity occurs due to a chemical interaction 

between phytochemicals like proanthocyanins, 

polysaccharides, polyphenols, and some other 

compounds present in natural extracts and the virus 

(Aboubakr et al., 2016). The aqueous extract of ginger 

contains 1,2-propanediol, 1,2-benzene dicarboxylic acid, 

and 2,3-butanediol which does not affect the receptors of 

the cell for FCV but inhibits the attachment of viruses 

with cells by causing alterations in viral capsid. FCV is 

used as a surrogate for norovirus in experiments because 

it is very difficult to grow noroviruses in cell culture 

(Aboubakr et al., 2016). Norovirus is an enteric virus and 

is considered to be a major contributor to foodborne 

illnesses. Aqueous extract of ginger has proved to be 

very beneficial in the prevention of foodborne diseases. 

We can also use its extract to wash vegetables and fruits 

in combination with water to prevent them from viral 

contamination (Aboubakr et al., 2016).   Several terpenes 

in the alcoholic extract of ginger have been observed 

with anti-rhinoviral activity (Adom et al., 2019). Besides 

this, gingerenone has been observed in causing the 

inhibition of many types of influenza A viruses including 

H9N2, H1N1, and H5N1 (Onyiba, 2022). Propanediol in 

an aqueous extract of ginger has revealed strong anti-

chikungunya activity (Kaushik et al., 2020; Wang et al., 

2020). Ginger essential oil (composition shown in table 

2) has depicted antiviral activity with high accuracy. The 

inactivation of caprine alphaherpesvirus-1 (up to 100%) 

by disruption of the virus envelope and other structures 

needed for virus attachment to host cells has been 

observed by ginger essential oil (Camero et al., 2019).  

More than 90.0% reduced activity of HSV-2 by 

preincubation with ginger oil also indicated its effective 

antiviral influence (Koch et al., 2008). Moreover, in 

invitro experimentation, direct inactivation of Tulane and 

hepatitis A viruses have been observed by gingerol 

(Patwardhan et al., 2020) while zerumbone has been 

observed with reduced activity of Epstein–Barr virus 

(Onyiba, 2022). In Hepatitis C-infected patients, ginger 

administration revealed the reduction in viral load by 

suppression of aspartate aminotransferase, α-fetoprotein 

and alanine aminotransferase (Abdel-Moneim et al., 

2013). However therapeutic effects of ginger have also 

been observed against SARS-CoV-2. In coronavirus 

disease, the cleavage of polyprotein a/b (PP a/b) takes 

place via papain-like protease (PLpro) at different sites, 

producing several proteins necessity for viral replication 

and survival (Goswami et al., 2020). Molecular docking 

has disclosed the potential inhibition of PLpro by 10-

gingerol, 6-gingerol and 8-gingerol (Shin et al., 2020). 

The binding potential of shogaol, gingerol, zingiberene, 

zingerone, zingiberenol and geraniol with catalytic 

domain of MPro has also been observed in docking 

studies. Meanwhile, interference with S protein-ACE2 

binding has also been remarked by  shogaol,  

zingiberenol, geraniol, zingiberene, gingerol and 

zingiberene (Ahkam et al., 2020).  S protein inhibition of 

corona virus has been examined by 10-shogaol, 10-

paradol, 10-gingerol, 8-paradol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol 

and sesquiphellandrene (terpene) (Joshi et al., 2020). 

In a study carried out in Saudi Arabia, a decrease in 

hospitalization (28.0%) has been observed in COVID-19 

patients using the ginger diet as compared to nonusers 

(38.0%) (Aldwihi et al., 2021). Similarly in another 

study, in COVID patients treated with ginger extract, low 

serum level of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 was observed 

along with short-time mechanical ventilation as 

compared to the control (Shariatpanahi et al., 2013) 
 
 

GINGER AS AN ANTIBACTERIAL 
 

Bacterial infections are the most common infections 

everywhere. Not only this but with time antibiotic 

stewardship issue has become the most serious health 

threat worldwide. The problem can be resolved by 

replacing allopathic medicines with herbal drugs. 
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat worldwide to 

development and health. It necessitates quick and crucial 

multisectoral action to attain sustainable development 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/propylene-glycol
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/alanine-aminotransferase
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/polyprotein
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/proteinase
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/shogaol
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/gingerol
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/zingiberene
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/zingerone
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/geraniol
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/gingerol


 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  377 
 

 

goals. WHO has stated that worldwide, antimicrobial 

resistance is among the 10 topmost health threats for 

human beings (WHO, 2021). Globally, one of the most 

common reasons for mortality is antimicrobial resistance 

(AMR), especially in settings where health care 

organizations do not get the least possible standards set 

by the World Health Organization (WHO) or some other 

quasi-governmental organization. According to analytical 

statistical models, in 2019, the bacterial AMR led to 

approximately 4·95 million demises. Owing to AMR, 6 

main pathogens caused 929 000 (660 000–1 270 000) 

demises, these pathogens include Escherichia coli, 

Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, 
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 

Acinetobacter baumannii (Murray et al., 2022).  

Ginger shows its action against both gram-positive 

and gram-negative bacteria (Abdulzahra & Mohammed, 

2014). The oil extract of dried ginger has proven to be 

very efficacious against various types of pathogens 

involved in food-borne diseases like E.coli, Vibrio 

cholera, salmonella spp, and Klebsiella (Islam et al., 
2014). In an experiment when V.harveyi infected Lates 

calcarifer which is an Asian sea bass and was given a 

ginger diet, it was observed that ginger controlled the 

infection caused by V.harveyi (Talpur et al., 2013). 

V.harveyi is a gram-negative bacteria that causes death in 
Asian sea bass (Austin & Zhang, 2006). Ginger is found 

to increase the lysozyme activity (Talpur et al., 2013). 

Lysozymes are the enzymes that carry the hydrolysis of 

peptidoglycans present in the cell wall of bacteria. In this 

way, ginger inhibits the penetration of detrimental 

bacteria (Nile & Park, 2015). Besides this, the anti-

bactericidal action of serum (which plays an important 

role in removing pathogens) also increases by ginger 

(Ellis, 2001). Ginger increases anti-protease activity and 

thus suppresses the attacking ability of bacteria. The 

increased respiratory burst action of neutrophils by 

ginger has also been reported (Talpur et al., 2013). A 

respiratory burst is a reaction in phagocytes that causes 

the degradation of bacteria. In fishes with a 0.1% ginger 

diet, 1.05±0.050 (nmol O2 /10
5 leucocyte) respiratory 

burst activity was observed while it was significantly 

greater, 1.26±0.230 (P<0.001) in fishes fed with a 1% 

ginger diet (Dugenci et al., 2003).  

The ginger essential oil has been observed with strong 

anti-microbial properties against many bacteria. The 

percentage composition of ginger essential oil is 

represented in table 2.  After the extraction of ginger 

essential oil by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation 

method and its chemical composition analysis by FTIR 

spectrometer, citral was found to be the most abundant 

(89.05%) chemical compound in oil (Kalhoro et al., 

2022). It was observed in the study that ginger oil 

obtained through hydrodistillation showed more 

sensitivity against L.monocytogenes as compared to other 
bacteria and depicted a big inhibition zone (37mm). It 

was also observed to be active against the strain 

V.alginolyticus, despite its high MIC value (minimum 

inhibitory concentration) (0.05-0.2mg/ml)(Mostafa et al., 

2018). The moderate activity of ginger oil with MIC 

value 0.16-0.63 mg/ml against gram-positive bacteria 

demonstrated the high resistance of gram-negative 

bacteria against ginger oil as compared to Gram-positive 

bacteria (Snuossi et al., 2016). Ginger essential oil has 

been shown to inhibit activity against E.coli and Shigella 
due to the presence of bioactive constituents like 

gingerol, endo borneol, and zingiberene (Sivasothy et al., 

2011). Similarly in another research conducted in Brazil, 

zerumbone isolation from ginger oil depicted its efficacy 

against S.mutans with 500 µg/ml MBC (minimum 
bactericidal concentration) and 250 µg/ml MIC. The 

efficacy of oil against biofilm formation and growth 

activity of S.pyrogenes resulted in 1mg/ml MBC and 
MIC(Wijesundara & Rupasinghe, 2018). The more 

sensitivity of gram-positive strains suggested that the 

thick peptidoglycan surrounding the membrane of the 

cytoplasm would be the bacterial target of essential oil 

(Cox & Markham, 2007). However, the possibility of 

another target cannot be proscribed. The better effect of 

oil against gram-negative bacteria suggested other 

microbial targets like plasma membranes as bioactive 

components of essential oil possess lipophilic properties 

which interact with membranes via influencing their 

permeability and fluidity (Rouseff & Perez-Cacho, 

2007). The effective doses of ginger (Halo, MBC, and 

MIC) against different bacteria connecting different 

countries have been represented in table 5. 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 
 

378 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 
Table 5. Representing the effective doses of ginger against different bacteria connecting different countries. Abbreviations: MBC, Minimum bactericidal 

concentration; MIC, Minimum inhibitory concentration. 

 

Bacteria Halo (mm) MBC (μL/mL) MIC  Country Reference 

E. coli O157:H7  18.7  9.4 microliter/mL 

Brazil (da Silva et al., 2018) 

P. aeruginosa 4.7  2.3 microliter/mL 

S. typhimurium 18.7  9.4 microliter/mL 

S. aureus 4.7  2.3 microliter/mL 

L. monoctogenes 9.4  4.7 microliter/mL 

V. alginolyticus  >25  Tunisia (Snuossi et al., 2016) 

Shigella   119.79% 

Saudi 

Arabia 
(Ashraf et al., 2017) 

E. coli 106.02% 

E. faecalis 61.94% 

P. aeruginosa 21.65% 

B. spizizenii   0.24 milligram/mL 

Negeri 

Sembilan 
(Sivasothy et al., 2011) 

E. coli 0.31 milligram/mL 

P. stutzeri 0.63 milligram/mL 

B. licheniformis 0.16 milligram/mL 

K. pneumoniae 0.47 milligram/mL 

L. plantarum 7.0   
Brazil (Ambrosio et al., 2017) 

S. enteritidis 8.8 

E. faecalis   1.0 milligram/mL 

Mexico (López et al., 2017) S. aureus 0.25 milligram/mL 

S. epidemidis 0.5 milligram/mL 

S. mutans  500 μg/mL 250 μg/mL Brazil (Moreira da Silva et al., 2018) 

S. aureus 8.90   

India (Bag & Chattopadhyay, 2015) 

M. l nkluteus 6.86 

L. monocytogenes 9.00 

S. typhimurium 6.61 

B. cereus 9.11 

E. coli 8.00 

B. cereus 8.3   

Saudi 

Arabia 
(Mostafa et al., 2018) 

S. typhi 0.0 

S. aureus 15.8 

P. aeruginosa 11.2 

E. coli 0.0 

K. pneumoniae 20.5   
India (Singh et al., 2008) 

P. vulgaris 18.4 

S. pyogenes  >1000 μg/mL >1000 μg/mL Canada (Wijesundara & Rupasinghe, 2018) 

 

 

 

 

GINGER AS AN ANTIOXIDANT 
 

The oxidative stress develops when in the organs and 

tissue, the development of extremely reactive species, for 

example, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), reactive sulfur 

species (RSS), and reactive oxygen species (ROS), 

prevail over the endogenous antioxidant defense system 

competence, brings about the dysfunctions and cellular 

damage, and ultimately gives rise to a broad range of 

diseases. Free radicals produce oxidative stress in the 

living system which is the major cause of many chronic 

diseases like cataracts, cancer, aging, rheumatoid 

arthritis, and autoimmune diseases (Pham-Huy et al., 

2008). The inequality between vulnerable defense 

systems and too many reactive species causes harm to 

various cell structures as well as to many molecules like 

DNA, lipids, and proteins, and finally leads to a broad 

range of diseases (Janssen-Heininger et al., 2008).  

Medicinal plants contain many phytochemicals which 

are proved to be effective in alleviating the toxic effects 

of free radicals. Ginger also contains many 

phytochemicals like 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, 

and 6-shogaol which possess antioxidant properties due 

to their solubilizing side chains and hydroxyl groups 

which are further classified into two major groups 

diarylheptanoids and gingerol-related compounds (Si et 

al., 2018). Results on HPLC-MS/MS of both extracts 

confirmed that eight different types of phenolic acids are 

present in ginger that proved the effective antioxidant 

activity and cause a delay in the diseases which are 

caused by oxidative stress (Tohma et al., 2017).  



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  379 
 

 

Ginger is very useful for chemotherapeutic patients 

because patients produce many reactive oxygen species 

which are responsible for oxidative stress followed by 

more lipid peroxidation products like nitric oxide (Amin 

et al., 2012; Gupta et al., 2010; Srivastava et al., 2010). 

When the ginger extract was given to such patients, it 

showed its efficacy by enhancing the level of antioxidant 

enzymes and suppressing the level of lipid peroxidation 

products (Danwilai et al., 2017). 6-gingerol is the most 

abundant compound in ginger that shows antioxidant 

activity (Baliga et al., 2011). The comprehensive 

mechanism of action of 6-shogaol for anti-oxidant effects 

has been illustrated in figure 5. Newly identified cancer 

sufferers taking strong beneficial chemotherapy have 

been randomized to take 20 mg of 6-gingerol, a ginger 

extract per day which enhances the antioxidant enzymes 

(Danwilai et al., 2017). In one study, the level of 

antioxidant enzymes was compared between two groups 

of rats. In one group of rats, there were diabetic rats as 

control and in the other group, diabetic rats were fed with 

a ginger diet. A very low level of superoxide dismutase 

enzyme was observed in the control group which was 

90.40±3.10 (U/mL) but it was significantly higher in 

ginger fed group where it was 109.30±3.70(U/mL) 

(P<0.05). Similarly, the level of Glutathione peroxidase 

(U/mL) was 22.90±0.89 in the control group while it was 

significantly higher, 26.31±2.10 in the ginger-fed group. 

The overall antioxidant capacity (mM) of the control 

group was 0.99±0.17mM while in the ginger treated 

group it was 1.28±0.29 (P<0.05) (Abdullah, 2012). 

Ginger prevents the formation of hydroxyl radicals 

due to the presence of polyphenols because they form a 

chelate with Fe[3+] (Stoilova et al., 2007). Polyphenol 

compounds show high antioxidant activity because they 

are reducing agents and free radical scavengers 

(Juntachote et al., 2006). Anthocyanins and ascorbic acid 

are two phenols that act as free radical scavengers 

(Pantelidis et al., 2007). Phenolics also improve the 

quality of food by inhibiting the degradation of lipids 

which is why their use in the food industry is increasing 

day by day (Wojdyło et al., 2007). It has been observed 

that gingerol plays a dominant role in the inhibition of 

phospholipid peroxidation as well as inhibits the xanthine 

oxidase, the enzyme that is involved in the formation of 

reactive oxygen species (Nile & Park, 2015). The other 

mechanisms of different constituents of ginger for anti-

oxidant effects have been shown in table 6. 

 

 

Figure 5. The comprehensive mechanism of action of 6-shogaol for 

antioxidant activity (Chen et al., 2014): 6-shogaol causes the translocation 

of Nrf2 in the nucleus and enhances the expression of genes that target 

Nrf2 by modification of Keap1 and protects Nrf2 from proteasomal 
degradation. In this way the GSH level increases and the ROS level 

suppresses. Abbreviations: Keap1, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1; 

Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid related factor 2; ARE, antioxidant response 
element; FTL, ferritin light chain; HO-1, heme oxygenase-1; Trx1, 

thioredoxin 1;  NQO1, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate 

(NADPH) quinone dehydrogenase 1; TrxR1, thioredoxin reductase 1; 
GCLC, glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit; GGTLA4, γ-

glutamyltransferase-like activity 4; GCLM, glutamate-cysteine ligase 

modifier subunit; AKR1B10, Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10; 
GSH, glutathione; ROS, reactive oxygen species. 

 

 

Table 6. Representing the antioxidant mechanism of action of different components of ginger. Abbreviations: MDA, malondialdehyde; GSSG, glutathione 

disulfide; glutathione S-transferase P1; MT1, metallothionein. 

 

Sr. 

No 
Ginger/Constituents Dose 

Research 

Subjects 
Mechanism of action Reference 

1 6-shogaol 

20 μM 

Human colon 

carcinoma cells 

HCT-116 

Enhancing the activation of MT1, FTL, 

AKR1B10, HO-1,GGTLA4, MT1,GCLM, 

and GCLC genes; decreasing the level of 

ROS; Enhancing the intracellular 

GSH/GSSG ratio; reducing the level of ROS 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Chen et al., 2014) 

100 

mg/kg 

Mice with 

wild-type and 

Nrf2/C57BL/6J 

mutations 

Upregulation of HO-1, GCLC, and MT1 

expression 

2 

Ginger oleoresin 

(Composition shown in 

table 2) 

100 

μg/mL 

Mesenchymal, 

stem cells from 

humans 

Stimulating HO-1, NQO1 gene expression; 

reducing ROS generation; stimulating Nrf2 

translocation to the cell nucleus 

(Ji et al., 2017) 

3 
Ginger 

phenylpropanoids 
40 μg/mL 

BJ fibroblasts 

from the 

foreskin 

Upregulation of Nrf2 activity and GSTP1 

level 

(Schadich et al., 

2016) 



 

 
 

380 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 
Table 6. Cont. 

 

Sr. 

No 
Ginger/Constituents Dose 

Research 

Subjects 
Mechanism of action Reference 

4 6-gingerol rich fraction 
50, 100 

mg/kg 

Wistar rats, 

females 

H2O2 and MDA levels are being reduced, 

while antioxidant enzyme activity and GSH 

levels are being increased. 

(Abolaji et al., 

2017) 

5 Ginger extract 

100 

mg/kg 

Wistar albino 

rats, males 

Lowering the MDA level; preventing 

catalase activity & GSH content from being 

depleted 

(Saiah et al., 2018) 

200, 400 

μg/mL 

Human 

fibrosarcoma 

cells, strain 

HT1080 

Reducing the production of reactive oxygen 

species (ROS) 

(Romero et al., 

2018) 

5, 25 

μg/mL 

Human 

chondrocyte 

cells C28I2 

Increasing antioxidant enzyme gene 

expression and lowering ROS as well as 

lipid peroxidation levels 

(Hosseinzadeh et 

al., 2017) 

78 to 313 

μg/mL 

Homogenates 

of rat hearts 
MDA levels decreased 

(Akinyemi et al., 

2013) 

 

 

 

GINGER AS AN ANTICANCER 
 

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells grow and 

spread uncontrollably throughout the body and damage 

normal body tissues (Fearon et al., 2011). Cancer is the 

second leading cause of death in the world. According to 

WHO's (2022) cancer report, 10 million deaths cases 

were observed in 2020 with nearly one in six deaths. 

How-ever in lower-middle-income countries, 30% of 

cancer cases were observed (Organization, 2022). 

Globally, approximately 10.0 million cancer-related 

mortalities (9.9 million without non-melanoma skin 

cancer) and almost 19.3 million new patients of cancer 

(18.1 million without non-melanoma skin cancer) arose 

in the year 2020. Breast cancer in females has exceeded 

lung cancer as the most frequently detected cancer, with 

almost 2.3 million new patients (11.7%), after that lung, 

colorectal, prostate, and stomach cancers were 11.4%, 

10.0 %, 7.3%, and 5.6% respectively. The highest cause 

of cancer-related death is lung cancer, with 

approximately 1.8 million mortalities (18%), afterward 

here comes colorectal, liver, stomach, and female breast 

cancers in the range of 9.4%, 8.3%, 7.7%, and 6.9% 

respectively. On the whole, the frequency was 2 to 3 fold 

greater in transitioned countries when compared with 

transitioning countries (Sung et al., 2021). 

Studies suggest that ginger causes the cell death of 

various types of cancerous cells including ovarian, colon, 

brain, liver, cervical, skin, prostate, renal, pancreatic, 

gastric, and breast cancer (Srinivasan, 2014). 

Phytochemicals like gingerols, shogaols, paradols, and 

polyphenolics are the compounds that are part of ginger 

and are involved in the anticancer activity and reduce its 

risk by targeting at different stages (Cheng et al., 2011). 

The therapeutic mechanisms of different constituents of 

ginger against various types of cancer are mentioned in 

table 7. The potential mechanisms of 6-gingerol for 

suppressing proliferation and induction of apoptosis in 

cancer (figure 6) (Liu et al., 2017; Tahir et al., 2015).  

 

 
Figure 6. Schematic diagram depicting the various signaling pathways of 6-gingerol for anti-cancer activity. Abbreviations: PI3K: Phosphoinositide 3-

kinase; AMPK: 5 adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma 2; Bax: Bcl-2-associated X protein; CDK: Cyclin-dependent 

kinase; mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin; Akt: Protein kinase B. (Upward arrow-indicating increasing activity, Downward arrow-indicating 
decreasing activity) 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  381 
 

 

Table 7. Representing the therapeutic mechanism of action of different constituents of ginger against different types of cancer. Abbreviations: NF-κB, 

nuclear factor kappa light chain-enhancer of activated B cells; AMPK, 5 adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; GDNP,  Ginger derived 

nanoparticles; ERK, Extracellular signal-regulated kinase; Bcl-xL, B-cell lymphoma-xL protein; KRAS, Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene; mTOR, 
mammalian target of rapamycin; STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; c-Myc, cellular myelocytomatosis; Bcl-2, B-Cell 

Leukemia/Lymphoma 2; GSTπ, glutathione-S-transferase; MRP1, multidrug resistance associated protein 1. 

 

Sr. 

No. 
Ginger/Constituents Dose Research Subjects Mechanism of action Reference 

1 10-gingerol 50-100 and 

200 μM 

Carcinoma cells 

from mouse breasts 

and human 

Inhibit cell growth, reduce the cell 

division and responsible for S 

phase cell cycle apoptosis 

(Bernard et al., 2017) 

2 GDNPs -2 0.3 mg Female, mice 

(C57BL/6) 

By using GDNPs-2 the expression 

of cyclin D1 is restrained and 

intestinal epithelial cell 

multiplication is also restricted. 

(Zhang et al., 2016) 

3 Extract of ginger 

based on fluorescent 

carbon Nano-dots 

1.11 mg/mL Carcinoma cells 

(hepatocellular, 

HepG2 human 

Boost up the apoptosis, enhance 

the ROS level, and dominate the 

expression of p53. 

(Li et al., 2014) 

4 Ginger extract 100 mg/kg Female mice 

(Swiss albino) 

 Ginger extract Activates the 

AMPK, and also by using it level 

of NF-κB is reduced, p53 

expression is enhanced and the 

level of NF-κB, D1 is reduced. 

(El-Ashmawy et al., 

2018) 

  2–10 mg/mL Human colorectal, 

adenocarcino-ma 

(HT29) 

Stimulate the cell apoptosis, and 

functions of the caspase-9 gene 

and downcast the level of ERK, 

Bcl-xL, KRAS, etc 

(Tahir et al., 2015) 

5 6-gingerol 60,100,140 μM HeLa human 

(cervical 

adenocarcinoma 

cells) 

It is responsible for the cell cycle, 

arrest in the resting phase of the 

cell (G0/G1-phase), and also it is 

responsible for the down-

regulation of cyclins levels 

(Cyclins A, D1, and E1) and it 

enhances the caspase gene 

expression and stops the mTOR 

signaling pathway 

(Zhang et al., 2017) 

6 Ginger extract with 

alginate beads 

50 mg/kg Male specie 

(Wistar rats) 

Responsible for enzymatic activity 

i.e NADH dehydrogenase and 

succinate dehydrogenase activity 

(Deol & Kaur, 2013) 

7 6-shogaol 10, 20, 40 μM LNCaP, 

DU145,PC3, 

human prostate 

(cancer cells) 

Responsible for the activation and 

deactivation of different 

mechanisms in signaling pathways 

i.e it stops STAT3, NF-κB 

signaling pathway, and it 

downregulates the expression of 

D1, c-Myc, Bcl2, surviving, and it 

is also responsible for cell 

apoptosis. 

(Saha et al., 2014) 

8 Gingerol-6, shogaol-

6, Gingerol-10, 

shogaol-10. 

10,100 μM PC-3, human 

prostate cancerous 

cells. 

Stops the multiplication of prostate 

cancer cell and suppress MRP1, 

GSTπ expression. 

(Liu et al., 2017) 

 

 

 

Gastric Cancer (Stomach Cancer) 

Another health-related problem is Gastric cancer which 

is also known as stomach cancer. This cancer is the 5th 

most prevalent cancer and the 3rd most popular basis for 

cancer-related mortality worldwide. The affliction of 

gastric cancer is incredibly more in Asia, central and 

eastern Europe, and Latin America while in most western 

European countries and North America, it is not a more 

widespread cancer (Ferro et al., 2014). 

Studies have shown that 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol, the 

active components of ginger, are involved in an 

anticancer activity that shows a different mode of action 

against gastrointestinal cancer (Ishiguro et al., 2007; 

Prasad & Tyagi, 2015). Tumor necrosis factor-related 

apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRIAL) is a cytokine that 

plays a role in apoptosis and thus is involved in the 

suppression of metastasis in the host (Thorburn, 2007). 

6-Gingerol upregulates the TRIAL-induced apoptosis by 

enhancing the TRIAL-induced caspase-3/7 activation. 

Caspase 3/7 are proteases that are involved in cell death 

machinery (Ishiguro et al., 2007). 6-gingerol suppresses 

the activity of inhibitors of caspase-3/7 like cIAP1 and 



 

 
 

382 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

thus promotes cell death (Prasad & Tyagi, 2015). On the 

other hand, 6-shogaol disturbs the intracellular level of 

tubulin, a protein in microtubules that performs many 

cellular functions including mitosis. This disturbing level 

of tubulin induces mitotic arrest and thus causes 

apoptosis of cancerous cells (Mollinedo & Gajate, 2003). 

 

Pancreatic Cancer 

Medically, the malignant tumor that develops in 

epithelial cells of glandular structures in the pancreatic 

ductal cells is called Pancreatic cancer (Aier et al., 2019). 

Now, the frequency and deaths related to pancreatic 

cancer are rising every year universally, no matter in 

Japan, Europe, the US, or China (Hu et al., 2021). It has 

been observed that 6-Shogaol and 6-gingerol are the 

components of ginger that induce apoptosis and anti-

proliferative activity in tumor cells (Li et al., 2012; Lu et 

al., 2014). 6-Gingerol inhibits the growth of pancreatic 

cancer cells by hindering the cell cycle at the G1 phase. 

Retinoblastoma is a protein that regulates the cell cycle. 

The phosphorylated retinoblastoma is mainly involved in 

controlling the cell cycle at G1 to S phase. It has been 

observed that 6-gingerol inhibits the phosphorylation of 

retinoblastoma after suppressing the expression of cyclin 

A and cyclin-dependent kinase and thus blocks the cell 

cycle of cancerous cells by not allowing it to enter in S 

phase (Park et al., 2006; Stone et al., 2011). It has also 

been noticed after experiments that normal cells like 

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) are 

unaffected by ginger as compared to Panic-1 cells. 

Features of apoptosis-like an increase in subG1 cells, 

fragmentation of nuclei, and caspase-3 activation have 

been noticed by the ginger extract in pancreatic cancer 

cells. However, treatment of cells with ginger for a long 

time increases the formation of reactive oxygen species 

which causes autoptic cell death (Akimoto et al., 2015). 

 

Prostate Cancer 

One of the most prevalent types of malignant cancer 

(after skin cancer) in males is prostate cancer, which is 

linked to the reproductive system. In 2012, world 

statistics stated that 15% of male cancers are prostate 

cancers as well as it is the 2nd major cause (after lung 

cancer) of deaths in males related to cancers (Khazaei et 

al., 2019). 

The cell cycle is maintained by cyclin-dependent 

kinases (cdks). In prostate cancer cells, ginger exhibits its 

activity by decreasing the level of cyclin D1 and cdk4 

levels. It also reduces the cyclin E levels which control 

the cell cycle through S-phase (Karna et al., 2012). 

Besides this, ginger stalls the cell cycle by increasing the 

level of p21 which is a cdks inhibitor (Besson et al., 

2008). Ginger also activates caspase-3 which cleaves 

many cellular proteins such as PARP (Karna et al., 

2012). PARP play role in many cellular activities 

including repairing of DNA. The inhibition of PARP 

causes an increase in apoptosis due to a reduction in 

DNA repairing capacity (Morales et al., 2014). It 

concludes that ginger inhibits the growth of prostate 

cancer cells by apoptosis and by causing derangements in 

the cell cycle (Karna et al., 2012). 

 

 

LIMITATIONS 
 

In addition to the medicinal effects of ginger, some side 

effects of ginger have also been observed. More bleeding 

has been observed during surgery in patients, who take 

regular doses of ginger (GHORBANIAN P., 2017). It 

means ginger is also unsafe for patients who have a 

bleeding disorder. Taking ginger more than 5 grams a 

day enhances the risk of side effects. Its high 

consumption causes skin rashes, mouth irritation, upset 

stomach, heartburn, and gas. In some cases, the 

consumption of ginger in combination with medicines 

also shows harmful effects (line, 2018; Mohan, 2017). It 

is even important to consult with a doctor before taking 

ginger while pregnant. Ginger is more treated as food 

rather than medicine therefore like drug manufacturers, 

the supplier of ginger does not show whether it is safe or 

not before selling in the market (Heitmann K1, 2013).  

 

 

CONCLUSION 
 

Ginger is broadly used in ethnomedicines, having several 

bioactive compounds with apprehensible 

pharmacological actions. This review demonstrates the 

recent studies (under duration from 2001-2022) about the 

pharmacological actions of ginger and it's almost 44 

bioactive compounds. In this study, ginger has unveiled 

immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-

bacterial, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects by 

stimulating and inhibiting various mechanisms at the 

cellular, molecular and enzymatic levels. Our study 

provides a comprehensive overview of botanical 

authentication, experimental studies (in-vitro, in-vivo, 

and computational), pharmacological properties, and 

phytoconstituents profile of ginger along with their 

biological activities. Not only this, but this review has 

also recognized research deficiencies after analyzing the 

data (up to the year 2022) and has provided new 

pathways for future research. The present review is 

beneficial for the development of ginger-based 

ethnomedicines, for the treatment of the most common 

and serious health issues of the day with minimum cost 

and side effectiveness. The major components of ginger 

and their mechanism of action regarding 

immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-

bacterial, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancerous effects have 

been concluded in figure 7. 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  383 
 

 

 
Figure 7. Showing the immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancerous effects of different components of 

ginger along their mechanism of action in a nutshell. (Upward arrow-indicating the increasing level, Downward arrow-indicating the decreasing level) 

 

 

 

Recommendations 

We should consider any confounding factors when 

assessing the medicinal beneficial effects of ginger 

against chronic diseases. Increasing verification has 

depicted that different constituents of ginger have 

different molecular targets, metabolic pathways and 

bioactivities suggesting the significance of identifying 

the bioactive compounds and their biological 

mechanisms for a specific disease. Gingerols and 

shogaols have been observed to be very potent bioactive 

compounds of ginger regarding its biological 

significance. It has been noticed that a few rodent and in-

vitro studies directly made comparisons between the 

bioactivities of shogaols and gingerols in limited disease 

models. It is suggested to compare the effectiveness of 

gingerols and shogaols in more models and thus develop 

unusual ginger formulations for particular diseases. To 

determine the optimum oral ginger composition will also 

enforce the study of the additive and synergistic effects 

of gingerols, shogaols and other bioactive compounds of 

ginger which will assist researchers to develop authentic 

standardization techniques to monitor the quality and 

composition of ginger formulations for specific disease. 

Once the unique ginger formulation is developed against 

a particular disease, the effective dose frequency and 

dose range should be established. 

 

 

Conflict of Interest Statement: No conflict of interest is 

to be declared by any author.  

Authors Contribution: Haseeba Shahzad: 

Conceptualization, design and directed the project, 

writing-review, editing, investigation, validation, data 

curation, data analysis, results interpretation, writing 

original draft and final approval. Shaifa Saleem: 

Writing-review, data analysis, critical revision and 

investigation. Waqas Hanif: Design, validation, critical 

revision, review editing, investigation, manuscript review 

and final approval. Zareena Ali: Writing-review, data 

analysis, and investigation. Muhammad Zeeshan 

Ahmed: Writing-review, validation, and critical revision. 

Haq Nawaz: Critical revision, validation and 

investigation. Zelle Humma: Review editing and critical 

revision. Laraib Rana: Writing-review and 

investigation. Laraib Rana contributed equally to this 

work with Muhammad Qamar Farid, Hajira Kalsoom, 

and Samavia Jaan. 

 

 

REFERENCES 
 
Abdel-Moneim, A., Morsy, B. M., Mahmoud, A. M., Abo-Seif, M. 

A., & Zanaty, M. I. (2013). Beneficial therapeutic effects of 

Nigella sativa and/or Zingiber officinale in HCV patients in 

Egypt. EXCLI journal, 12, 943.  

Abdullah, H. A.-A. (2012). Antihyperglycemic and Antioxidant 

Effect of Ginger Extract on Streptozotocin-Diabetic 

Rats.https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2012.1107.1112.  

Abdulzahra, M. D., & Mohammed, H. F. (2014). The antibacterial 

effect of Ginger and Garlic extracts on some pathogenic 

bacteria isolated from patients with otitis media. International 

Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(5), 1-5.  



 

 
 

384 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

Abolaji, A. O., Ojo, M., Afolabi, T. T., Arowoogun, M. D., 

Nwawolor, D., & Farombi, E. O. (2017). Protective properties 

of 6-gingerol-rich fraction from Zingiber officinale (Ginger) 

on chlorpyrifos-induced oxidative damage and inflammation in 

the brain, ovary and uterus of rats. Chemico-biological 

interactions, 270, 15-23.  

Aboubakr, H. A., Nauertz, A., Luong, N. T., Agrawal, S., El-

Sohaimy, S. A., Youssef, M. M., & Goyal, S. M. (2016). In 

vitro antiviral activity of clove and ginger aqueous extracts 

against feline calicivirus, a surrogate for human norovirus. 

Journal of food protection, 79(6), 1001-1012.  

Adom, D., Sekyere, P., & Addo, A. (2019). The pharmaceutical, 

insecticidal and antioxidant properties of Ginger. Agriculture 

& Food: e-Newsletter, 1(4), 261-266.  

Agriculture, U. S. D. o. (2018). Full Report (All Nutrients):  

11216, Ginger root, 

raw.https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11216?fgcd=&m

anu=&format=Full&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=default&

order=asc&qlookup=11216&ds=&qt=&qp=&qa=&qn=&q=&i

ng=).  

Ahkam, A. H., Hermanto, F. E., Alamsyah, A., Aliyyah, I. H., & 

Fatchiyah, F. (2020). Virtual prediction of antiviral potential of 

ginger (Zingiber officinale) bioactive compounds against spike 

and MPro of SARS-CoV2 protein. Berkala Penelitian Hayati, 

25(2), 52-57.  

Ahmed, M. Z., Shahzad, H., Rao, T., Ali, A., & Samad, N. (2020). 

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Hepatitis B 

Virus (HBV) In District Vehari, Pakistan. Age, 487, 51.  

Aier, I., Semwal, R., Sharma, A., & Varadwaj, P. K. (2019). A 

systematic assessment of statistics, risk factors, and underlying 

features involved in pancreatic cancer. Cancer epidemiology, 

58, 104-110.  

Akimoto, M., Iizuka, M., Kanematsu, R., Yoshida, M., & 

Takenaga, K. (2015). Anticancer effect of ginger extract 

against pancreatic cancer cells mainly through reactive oxygen 

species-mediated autotic cell death. PloS one, 10(5), 

e0126605.  

Akinyemi, A. J., Ademiluyi, A. O., & Oboh, G. (2013). Aqueous 

extracts of two varieties of ginger (Zingiber officinale) inhibit 

Angiotensin i–converting enzyme, iron (II), and sodium 

nitroprusside-induced lipid peroxidation in the rat heart in 

vitro. Journal of medicinal food, 16(7), 641-646.  

Aldwihi, L. A., Khan, S. I., Alamri, F. F., AlRuthia, Y., Alqahtani, 

F., Fantoukh, O. I., . . . Almohammed, O. A. (2021). Patients’ 

Behavior Regarding Dietary or Herbal Supplements before and 

during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of 

Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5086.  

Ali, B. H., Blunden, G., Tanira, M. O., & Nemmar, A. (2008). 

Some phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological 

properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): a review of 

recent research. Food and chemical Toxicology, 46(2), 409-

420.  

Altman, R. D., & Marcussen, K. C. (2001). Effects of a ginger 

extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Arthritis 

Rheum, 44(11), 2531-2538.  

Ambrosio, C. M., de Alencar, S. M., de Sousa, R. L., Moreno, A. 

M., & Da Gloria, E. M. (2017). Antimicrobial activity of 

several essential oils on pathogenic and beneficial bacteria. 

Industrial Crops and Products, 97, 128-136.  

Amin, K. A., Mohamed, B. M., El-Wakil, M. A., & Ibrahem, S. O. 

(2012). Impact of breast cancer and combination 

chemotherapy on oxidative stress, hepatic and cardiac markers. 

J Breast Cancer, 15(3), 306-312. 

https://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2012.15.3.306  

Amri, M., & Touil-Boukoffa, C. (2016). In vitro anti-hydatic and 

immunomodulatory effects of ginger and [6]-gingerol. Asian 

Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, 9(8), 749-756. 

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.06.013  

Appay, V., & Rowland-Jones, S. L. (2001). RANTES: a versatile 

and controversial chemokine. Trends in immunology, 22(2), 

83-87.  

Ashraf, S. A., Al-Shammari, E., Hussain, T., Tajuddin, S., & 

Panda, B. P. (2017). In-vitro antimicrobial activity and 

identification of bioactive components using GC–MS of 

commercially available essential oils in Saudi Arabia. Journal 

of food science and technology, 54(12), 3948-3958.  

Austin, B., & Zhang, X. H. (2006). Vibrio harveyi: a significant 

pathogen of marine vertebrates and invertebrates. Letters in 

applied microbiology, 43(2), 119-124.  

Bag, A., & Chattopadhyay, R. R. (2015). Evaluation of synergistic 

antibacterial and antioxidant efficacy of essential oils of spices 

and herbs in combination. PloS one, 10(7), e0131321.  

Baliga, M. S., Haniadka, R., Pereira, M. M., D'Souza, J. J., Pallaty, 

P. L., Bhat, H. P., & Popuri, S. (2011). Update on the 

chemopreventive effects of ginger and its phytochemicals. Crit 

Rev Food Sci Nutr, 51(6), 499-523. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/10408391003698669  

Bernard, M. M., McConnery, J. R., & Hoskin, D. W. (2017). [10]-

Gingerol, a major phenolic constituent of ginger root, induces 

cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in triple-negative breast cancer 

cells. Experimental and molecular pathology, 102(2), 370-376.  

Besson, A., Dowdy, S. F., & Roberts, J. M. (2008). CDK 

inhibitors: cell cycle regulators and beyond. Developmental 

cell, 14(2), 159-169.  

Borah, A., Sethi, L., Sarkar, S., & Hazarika, K. (2017). Effect of 

drying on texture and color characteristics of ginger and 

turmeric in a solar biomass integrated dryer. Journal of Food 

Process Engineering, 40(1), e12310.  

Camero, M., Lanave, G., Catella, C., Capozza, P., Gentile, A., 

Fracchiolla, G., . . . Tempesta, M. J. V. m. (2019). Virucidal 

activity of ginger essential oil against caprine 

alphaherpesvirus-1. 230, 150-155.  

Chen, H., Fu, J., Chen, H., Hu, Y., Soroka, D. N., Prigge, J. R., . . . 

Chen, X. (2014). Ginger compound [6]-shogaol and its 

cysteine-conjugated metabolite (M2) activate Nrf2 in colon 

epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo. Chemical Research in 

Toxicology, 27(9), 1575-1585.  

Cheng, X.-L., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.-B., Qi, L.-W., & Li, P. (2011). 

Steamed ginger (Zingiber officinale): Changed chemical 

profile and increased anticancer potential. Food chemistry, 

129(4), 1785-1792.  

Chmit, M., Kanaan, H., Habib, J., Abbass, M., Mcheik, A., & 

Chokr, A. (2014). Antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of 

polysaccharides, essential oil, and fatty oil extracted from 

Laurus nobilis growing in Lebanon. Asian Pacific Journal of 

Tropical Medicine, 7, S546-S552.  

Cox, S. D., & Markham, J. (2007). Susceptibility and intrinsic 

tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to selected plant volatile 

compounds. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 103(4), 930-

936.  

da Silva, F. T., da Cunha, K. F., Fonseca, L. M., Antunes, M. D., 

El Halal, S. L. M., Fiorentini, Â. M., . . . Dias, A. R. G. (2018). 

Action of ginger essential oil (Zingiber officinale) 

encapsulated in proteins ultrafine fibers on the antimicrobial 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  385 
 

 

control in situ. International journal of biological 

macromolecules, 118, 107-115.  

Danwilai, K., Konmun, J., Sripanidkulchai, B.-o., & Subongkot, S. 

(2017). Antioxidant activity of ginger extract as a daily 

supplement in cancer patients receiving adjuvant 

chemotherapy: a pilot study. Cancer management and 

research, 9, 11.  

Deol, P. K., & Kaur, I. P. (2013). Improving the therapeutic 

efficiency of ginger extract for treatment of colon cancer using 

a suitably designed multiparticulate system. Journal of Drug 

Targeting, 21(9), 855-865.  

Divangahi, M., Aaby, P., Khader, S. A., Barreiro, L. B., 

Bekkering, S., Chavakis, T., . . . Dominguez-Andres, J. J. N. i. 

(2021). Trained immunity, tolerance, priming and 

differentiation: distinct immunological processes. 22(1), 2-6.  

Dugenci, S. K., Arda, N., & Candan, A. (2003). Some medicinal 

plants as immunostimulant for fish. J Ethnopharmacol, 88(1), 

99-106.  

Dügenci, S. K., Arda, N., & Candan, A. (2003). Some medicinal 

plants as immunostimulant for fish. Journal of 

ethnopharmacology, 88(1), 99-106.  

El-Abhar, H. S., Hammad, L. N., & Gawad, H. S. A. (2008). 

Modulating effect of ginger extract on rats with ulcerative 

colitis. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 118(3), 367-372.  

El-Ashmawy, N. E., Khedr, N. F., El-Bahrawy, H. A., & Abo 

Mansour, H. E. (2018). Ginger extract adjuvant to doxorubicin 

in mammary carcinoma: study of some molecular mechanisms. 

European journal of nutrition, 57(3), 981-989.  

Ellis, A. (2001). Innate host defense mechanisms of fish against 

viruses and bacteria. Developmental & Comparative 

Immunology, 25(8-9), 827-839.  

Elshater, A., Salman, M. M., & Moussa, M. M. (2009). Effect of 

ginger extract consumption on levels of blood glucose, lipid 

profile and kidney functions in alloxan induced-diabetic rats. 

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, 2(1), 153-

162.  

Ezzat, S. M., Ezzat, M. I., Okba, M. M., Menze, E. T., & Abdel-

Naim, A. B. (2018). The hidden mechanism beyond ginger 

(Zingiber officinale Rosc.) potent in vivo and in vitro anti-

inflammatory activity. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 214, 

113-123.  

Fearon, K., Strasser, F., Anker, S. D., Bosaeus, I., Bruera, E., 

Fainsinger, R. L., . . . Mantovani, G. J. T. l. o. (2011). 

Definition and classification of cancer cachexia: an 

international consensus. 12(5), 489-495.  

Ferreira, F. M. D., Hirooka, E. Y., Ferreira, F. D., Silva, M. V., 

Mossini, S. A. G., & Machinski Jr, M. (2018). Effect of 

Zingiber officinale Roscoe essential oil in fungus control and 

deoxynivalenol production of Fusarium graminearum Schwabe 

in vitro. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 35(11), 

2168-2174.  

Ferro, A., Peleteiro, B., Malvezzi, M., Bosetti, C., Bertuccio, P., 

Levi, F., . . . Lunet, N. (2014). Worldwide trends in gastric 

cancer mortality (1980–2011), with predictions to 2015, and 

incidence by subtype. European journal of cancer, 50(7), 

1330-1344.  

Funk, J. L., Frye, J. B., Oyarzo, J. N., & Timmermann, B. N. 

(2009). Comparative effects of two gingerol-containing 

Zingiber officinale extracts on experimental rheumatoid 

arthritis. J Nat Prod, 72(3), 403-407. 

https://doi.org/10.1021/np8006183  

Ghasemzadeh, A., Jaafar, H. Z., & Rahmat, A. (2010). 

Identification and concentration of some flavonoid 

components in Malaysian young ginger (Zingiber officinale 

Roscoe) varieties by a high performance liquid 

chromatography method. Molecules, 15(9), 6231-6243.  

GHORBANIAN P., J. M., KAMALINEJAD M., IMANI F., 

NIAKAN LAHIJI M., JAFARIAN A.A. (2017). SIDE 

EFFECTS OF GINGER DURING SURGERY AND 

ANESTHESIA.https://www.sid.ir/en/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?

ID=549189.  

Goswami, D., Kumar, M., Ghosh, S. K., & Das, A. (2020). Natural 

product compounds in alpinia officinarum and ginger are 

potent SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitors.  

Grzanna, R., Lindmark, L., & Frondoza, C. G. (2005). Ginger--an 

herbal medicinal product with broad anti-inflammatory 

actions. J Med Food, 8(2), 125-132. 

https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2005.8.125  

Gupta, A., Srivastava, S., Prasad, R., Natu, S. M., Mittal, B., Negi, 

M. P., & Srivastava, A. N. (2010). Oxidative stress in non-

small cell lung cancer patients after chemotherapy: association 

with treatment response. Respirology, 15(2), 349-356. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1843.2009.01703.x  

Habib, S. H. M., Makpol, S., Hamid, N. A. A., Das, S., Ngah, W. 

Z. W., & Yusof, Y. A. M. (2008). Ginger extract (Zingiber 

officinale) has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects on 

ethionine-induced hepatoma rats. Clinics, 63(6), 807-813.  

Haghighi, M., & Rohani, M. S. (2013). The effects of powdered 

ginger (Zingiber officinale) on the haematological and 

immunological parameters of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus 

mykiss. Journal of medicinal Plant and Herbal therapy 

research, 1(1), 8-12.  

Heitmann K1, N. H., Holst L. (2013). Safety of ginger use in 

pregnancy: results from a large population-based cohort 

study.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22706624.  

Hosseinzadeh, A., Juybari, K. B., Fatemi, M. J., Kamarul, T., 

Bagheri, A., Tekiyehmaroof, N., & Sharifi, A. M. (2017). 

Protective effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale roscoe) extract 

against oxidative stress and mitochondrial apoptosis induced 

by interleukin-1β in cultured chondrocytes. Cells Tissues 

Organs, 204(5-6), 241-250.  

Hsiang, C.-Y., Lo, H.-Y., Huang, H.-C., Li, C.-C., Wu, S.-L., & 

Ho, T.-Y. (2013). Ginger extract and zingerone ameliorated 

trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid-induced colitis in mice via 

modulation of nuclear factor-κB activity and interleukin-1β 

signalling pathway. Food chemistry, 136(1), 170-177.  

Hu, J.-X., Zhao, C.-F., Chen, W.-B., Liu, Q.-C., Li, Q.-W., Lin, 

Y.-Y., & Gao, F. (2021). Pancreatic cancer: A review of 

epidemiology, trend, and risk factors. World journal of 

gastroenterology, 27(27), 4298.  

Ippoushi, K., Azuma, K., Ito, H., Horie, H., & Higashio, H. 

(2003). [6]-Gingerol inhibits nitric oxide synthesis in activated 

J774. 1 mouse macrophages and prevents peroxynitrite-

induced oxidation and nitration reactions. Life sciences, 

73(26), 3427-3437.  

Ishiguro, K., Ando, T., Maeda, O., Ohmiya, N., Niwa, Y., 

Kadomatsu, K., & Goto, H. (2007). Ginger ingredients reduce 

viability of gastric cancer cells via distinct mechanisms. 

Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 

362(1), 218-223.  

Islam, K., Rowsni, A. A., Khan, M. M., & Kabir, M. S. (2014). 

Antimicrobial activity of ginger (Zingiber officinale) extracts 

against food-borne pathogenic bacteria. International Journal 

of Science, Environment and Technology, 3(3), 867-871.  

Janssen-Heininger, Y. M., Mossman, B. T., Heintz, N. H., Forman, 

H. J., Kalyanaraman, B., Finkel, T., . . . van der Vliet, A. 



 

 
 

386 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

(2008). Redox-based regulation of signal transduction: 

principles, pitfalls, and promises. Free Radical Biology and 

Medicine, 45(1), 1-17.  

Ji, K., Fang, L., Zhao, H., Li, Q., Shi, Y., Xu, C., . . . Liu, Q. 

(2017). Ginger oleoresin alleviated γ-ray irradiation-induced 

reactive oxygen species via the Nrf2 protective response in 

human mesenchymal stem cells. Oxidative Medicine and 

Cellular Longevity, 2017.  

Jolad, S. D., Lantz, R. C., Chen, G. J., Bates, R. B., & 

Timmermann, B. N. (2005). Commercially processed dry 

ginger (Zingiber officinale): composition and effects on LPS-

stimulated PGE2 production. Phytochemistry, 66(13), 1614-

1635.  

Joshi, A., Krishnan, G. S., & Kaushik, V. (2020). Molecular 

docking and simulation investigation: effect of beta-

sesquiphellandrene with ionic integration on SARS-CoV2 and 

SFTS viruses. Journal of Genetic Engineering and 

Biotechnology, 18(1), 1-8.  

Juntachote, T., Berghofer, E., Bauer, F., & Siebenhandl, S. (2006). 

The application of response surface methodology to the 

production of phenolic extracts of lemon grass, galangal, holy 

basil and rosemary. International journal of food science & 

technology, 41(2), 121-133.  

Kalhoro, M. T., Zhang, H., Kalhoro, G. M., Wang, F., Chen, T., 

Faqir, Y., & Nabi, F. (2022). Fungicidal properties of ginger 

(Zingiber officinale) essential oils against Phytophthora 

colocasiae. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-10.  

Karna, P., Chagani, S., Gundala, S. R., Rida, P. C., Asif, G., 

Sharma, V., . . . Aneja, R. (2012). Benefits of whole ginger 

extract in prostate cancer. British journal of nutrition, 107(4), 

473-484.  

Kaushik, S., Jangra, G., Kundu, V., Yadav, J. P., & Kaushik, S. 

(2020). Anti-viral activity of Zingiber officinale (Ginger) 

ingredients against the Chikungunya virus. Virusdisease, 

31(3), 270-276.  

Kawahara, K., Hohjoh, H., Inazumi, T., Tsuchiya, S., & Sugimoto, 

Y. (2015). Prostaglandin E 2-induced inflammation: Relevance 

of prostaglandin E receptors. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 

(BBA)-Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, 1851(4), 414-

421.  

Khazaei, Z., Sohrabivafa, M., Momenabadi, V., Moayed, L., & 

Goodarzi, E. (2019). Global cancer statistics 2018: Globocan 

estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide prostate 

cancers and their relationship with the human development 

index. Advances in Human Biology, 9(3), 245.  

Koch, C., Reichling, J., Schneele, J., & Schnitzler, P. (2008). 

Inhibitory effect of essential oils against herpes simplex virus 

type 2. Phytomedicine, 15(1-2), 71-78.  

Kuhn, H., Chaitidis, P., Roffeis, J., & Walther, M. (2007). 

Arachidonic Acid metabolites in the cardiovascular system: the 

role of lipoxygenase isoforms in atherogenesis with particular 

emphasis on vascular remodeling. Journal of cardiovascular 

pharmacology, 50(6), 609-620.  

Lantz, R., Chen, G., Sarihan, M., Solyom, A., Jolad, S., & 

Timmermann, B. (2007). The effect of extracts from ginger 

rhizome on inflammatory mediator production. Phytomedicine, 

14(2-3), 123-128.  

Lee, T.-Y., Lee, K.-C., Chen, S.-Y., & Chang, H.-H. (2009). 6-

Gingerol inhibits ROS and iNOS through the suppression of 

PKC-α and NF-κB pathways in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated 

mouse macrophages. Biochemical and biophysical research 

communications, 382(1), 134-139.  

Li, C.-L., Ou, C.-M., Huang, C.-C., Wu, W.-C., Chen, Y.-P., Lin, 

T.-E., . . . Zhou, H.-C. (2014). Carbon dots prepared from 

ginger exhibiting efficient inhibition of human hepatocellular 

carcinoma cells. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2(28), 

4564-4571.  

Li, F., Nitteranon, V., Tang, X., Liang, J., Zhang, G., Parkin, K. L., 

& Hu, Q. (2012). In vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory 

activities of 1-dehydro-[6]-gingerdione, 6-shogaol, 6-

dehydroshogaol and hexahydrocurcumin. Food chemistry, 

135(2), 332-337.  

line, M. n. (2018). Is drinking ginger water good for 

health?https://medkit.info/2018/06/25/is-drinking-ginger-

water-good-for-health/.  

Liu, C.-M., Kao, C.-L., Tseng, Y.-T., Lo, Y.-C., & Chen, C.-Y. 

(2017). Ginger phytochemicals inhibit cell growth and 

modulate drug resistance factors in docetaxel resistant prostate 

cancer cell. Molecules, 22(9), 1477.  

López, E. I. C., Balcázar, M. F. H., Mendoza, J. M. R., Ortiz, A. 

D. R., Melo, M. T. O., Parrales, R. S., & Delgado, T. H. 

(2017). Antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Zingiber 

officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae). American Journal of Plant 

Sciences, 8(7), 1511-1524.  

Lu, D.-L., Li, X.-Z., Dai, F., Kang, Y.-F., Li, Y., Ma, M.-M., . . . 

Zhou, B. (2014). Influence of side chain structure changes on 

antioxidant potency of the [6]-gingerol related compounds. 

Food chemistry, 165, 191-197.  

Luettig, J., Rosenthal, R., Lee, I. F. M., Krug, S. M., & Schulzke, 

J. D. (2016). The ginger component 6‐shogaol prevents 

TNF‐α‐induced barrier loss via inhibition of PI3K/Akt and 

NF‐κB signaling. Molecular nutrition & food research, 60(12), 

2576-2586.  

Mesomo, M. C., Corazza, M. L., Ndiaye, P. M., Dalla Santa, O. 

R., Cardozo, L., & de Paula Scheer, A. (2013). Supercritical 

CO2 extracts and essential oil of ginger (Zingiber officinale 

R.): Chemical composition and antibacterial activity. The 

Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 80, 44-49.  

Mohan, C. P. (2017). Ginger: Possible Health Benefits and Side 

Effects.https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-

supplements/ginger-uses-and-risks#1).  

Mollinedo, F., & Gajate, C. (2003). Microtubules, microtubule-

interfering agents and apoptosis. Apoptosis, 8(5), 413-450.  

Morales, J., Li, L., Fattah, F. J., Dong, Y., Bey, E. A., Patel, M., . . 

. Boothman, D. A. (2014). Review of poly (ADP-ribose) 

polymerase (PARP) mechanisms of action and rationale for 

targeting in cancer and other diseases. Critical Reviews™ in 

Eukaryotic Gene Expression, 24(1).  

Moreira da Silva, T., Pinheiro, C. D., Puccinelli Orlandi, P., 

Pinheiro, C. C., & Soares Pontes, G. (2018). Zerumbone from 

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) smith: a potential prophylactic and 

therapeutic agent against the cariogenic bacterium 

Streptococcus mutans. BMC complementary and alternative 

medicine, 18(1), 1-9.  

Mostafa, A. A., Al-Askar, A. A., Almaary, K. S., Dawoud, T. M., 

Sholkamy, E. N., & Bakri, M. M. (2018). Antimicrobial 

activity of some plant extracts against bacterial strains causing 

food poisoning diseases. Saudi journal of biological sciences, 

25(2), 361-366.  

Munda, S., Dutta, S., Haldar, S., & Lal, M. (2018). Chemical 

analysis and therapeutic uses of ginger (Zingiber officinale 

Rosc.) essential oil: a review. Journal of essential oil bearing 

plants, 21(4), 994-1002.  

Murray, C. J., Ikuta, K. S., Sharara, F., Swetschinski, L., Aguilar, 

G. R., Gray, A., . . . Wool, E. (2022). Global burden of 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  387 
 

 

bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic 

analysis. The Lancet, 399(10325), 629-655.  

Nakamura, K., Honda, K., Mizutani, T., Akiho, H., & Harada, N. 

(2006). Novel strategies for the treatment of inflammatory 

bowel disease: selective inhibition of cytokines and adhesion 

molecules. World journal of gastroenterology: WJG, 12(29), 

4628.  

Nawaz, H., Shad, M. A., Muntaha, S. T., & Muzaffar, S. (2018). 

Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Potential of 

Oven Heated and Microwave Treated Ginger (Zingiber 

officinale Roscoe). Free Radicals & Antioxidants, 8(2).  

Nile, S. H., & Park, S. W. (2015). Chromatographic analysis, 

antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and xanthine oxidase 

inhibitory activities of ginger extracts and its reference 

compounds. Industrial Crops and Products, 70, 238-244.  

Nogueira de Melo, G. A., Grespan, R., Fonseca, J. P., Farinha, T. 

O., da Silva, E. L., Romero, A. L., . . . Cuman, R. K. N. 

(2011). Inhibitory effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale 

Roscoe) essential oil on leukocyte migration in vivo and in 

vitro. Journal of natural medicines, 65(1), 241-246.  

Nya, E. J., & Austin, B. (2009). Use of dietary ginger, Zingiber 

officinale Roscoe, as an immunostimulant to control 

Aeromonas hydrophila infections in rainbow trout, 

Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). Journal of Fish Diseases, 

32(11), 971-977.  

Ogbuewu, I., Jiwuba, P., Ezeokeke, C., Uchegbu, M., Okoli, I., 

Iloeje, M. J. I. J. o. A., & Development, R. (2014). Evaluation 

of phytochemical and nutritional composition of ginger 

rhizome powder. 17(1), 1663-1670.  

Ong, C., Migliori, G., Raviglione, M., MacGregor-Skinner, G., 

Sotgiu, G., Alffenaar, J.-W., . . . Archuleta, S. (2020). 

Epidemic and pandemic viral infections: Impact on 

tuberculosis and the lung: European Respiratory Journal. Eur. 

Respir. J., 56(4).  

Onyiba, C. I. (2022). A Systematic Review of Garlic and Ginger as 

Medicinal Spices against Viral Infections. Extensive Reviews, 

2(1), 32-44.  

Organization, W. H. (2021). Spread of Disease Threatens Public 

Health Security (2007). Available online at:  

https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr44/en/ 

(accessed April 23, 2021).  

Organization, W. H. (2022). Cancer [Internet] 3 February 2022 

Available online a: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/cancer.  

Palatty, P. L., Haniadka, R., Valder, B., Arora, R., & Baliga, M. S. 

(2013). Ginger in the prevention of nausea and vomiting: a 

review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 53(7), 659-669. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2011.553751  

Pantelidis, G. E., Vasilakakis, M., Manganaris, G. A., & 

Diamantidis, G. (2007). Antioxidant capacity, phenol, 

anthocyanin and ascorbic acid contents in raspberries, 

blackberries, red currants, gooseberries and Cornelian cherries. 

Food chemistry, 102(3), 777-783.  

Park, Y. J., Wen, J., Bang, S., Park, S. W., & Song, S. Y. (2006). 

[6]-Gingerol induces cell cycle arrest and cell death of mutant 

p53-expressing pancreatic cancer cells. Yonsei medical 

journal, 47(5), 688-697.  

Patwardhan, M., Morgan, M. T., Dia, V., & D'Souza, D. H. J. F. 

m. (2020). Heat sensitization of hepatitis A virus and Tulane 

virus using grape seed extract, gingerol and curcumin. 90, 

103461.  

Pham-Huy, L. A., He, H., & Pham-Huy, C. (2008). Free radicals, 

antioxidants in disease and health. International journal of 

biomedical science: IJBS, 4(2), 89.  

Prasad, S., & Tyagi, A. K. (2015). Ginger and its constituents: role 

in prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. 

Gastroenterology research and practice, 2015.  

Prevention., C. f. D. C. a. (2021). Emerging Infectious Diseases 

(2018). Available online at: 

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emerginfectdiseases/default.

html (accessed April 21, 2021).  

Qidwai, W., Alim, S. R., Dhanani, R. H., Jehangir, S., Nasrullah, 

A., & Raza, A. (2003). Use of folk remedies among patients in 

Karachi, Pakistan. Journal of Ayub Medical College, 15(2), 31.  

Rasmussen, P. (2011). Ginger--Zingiber officinale Roscoe, 

Zingiberaceae. Journal of primary health care, 3(3), 235-236.  

Raynor, D. K., Dickinson, R., Knapp, P., Long, A. F., & Nicolson, 

D. J. (2011). Buyer beware? Does the information provided 

with herbal products available over the counter enable safe 

use? BMC medicine, 9(1), 94.  

Romero, A., Forero, M., Sequeda-Castañeda, L. G., Grismaldo, A., 

Iglesias, J., Celis-Zambrano, C. A., . . . Morales, L. (2018). 

Effect of ginger extract on membrane potential changes and 

AKT activation on a peroxide-induced oxidative stress cell 

model. Journal of King Saud University-Science, 30(2), 263-

269.  

Rouseff, R., & Perez-Cacho, P. R. (2007). Citrus flavour. In 

Flavours and Fragrances (pp. 117-134). Springer.  

Saha, A., Blando, J., Silver, E., Beltran, L., Sessler, J., & 

DiGiovanni, J. (2014). 6-Shogaol from dried ginger inhibits 

growth of prostate cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo 

through inhibition of STAT3 and NF-κB signaling. Cancer 

prevention research, 7(6), 627-638.  

Sahu, S., Das, B., Mishra, B., Pradhan, J., & Sarangi, N. (2007). 

Effect of Allium sativum on the immunity and survival of 

Labeo rohita infected with Aeromonas hydrophila. Journal of 

Applied Ichthyology, 23(1), 80-86.  

Saiah, W., Halzoune, H., Djaziri, R., Tabani, K., Koceir, E. A., & 

Omari, N. (2018). Antioxidant and gastroprotective actions of 

butanol fraction of Zingiber officinale against diclofenac 

sodium‐induced gastric damage in rats. Journal of Food 

Biochemistry, 42(1), e12456.  

San Chang, J., Wang, K. C., Yeh, C. F., Shieh, D. E., & Chiang, L. 

C. (2013). Fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale) has anti-viral 

activity against human respiratory syncytial virus in human 

respiratory tract cell lines. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 

145(1), 146-151.  

Sanderson, L., Bartlett, A., & Whitfield, P. (2002). In vitro and in 

vivo studies on the bioactivity of a ginger (Zingiber officinale) 

extract towards adult schistosomes and their egg production. 

Journal of Helminthology, 76(3), 241-247.  

Schadich, E., Hlaváč, J., Volná, T., Varanasi, L., Hajdúch, M., & 

Džubák, P. (2016). Effects of ginger phenylpropanoids and 

quercetin on Nrf2-ARE pathway in human BJ fibroblasts and 

HaCaT keratinocytes. BioMed research international, 2016.  

Semwal, R. B., Semwal, D. K., Combrinck, S., & Viljoen, A. M. 

(2015). Gingerols and shogaols: Important nutraceutical 

principles from ginger. Phytochemistry, 117, 554-568.  

Shadmani, A., Azhar, I., Mazhar, F., Hassan, M. M., Ahmed, S. 

W., Ahmad, I., . . . Shamim, S. (2004). Kinetic studies on 

Zingiber officinale. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical 

Sciences, 17(1), 47-54.  

Shahrajabian, M. H., Sun, W., Cheng, Q. J. A. a. s., section b—

Soil, & Science, P. (2019). Clinical aspects and health benefits 



 

 
 

388 Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry 12 (1), 2023: 371-389 
 

 

of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in both traditional Chinese 

medicine and modern industry. 69(6), 546-556.  

Shariatpanahi, Z. V., Mokhtari, M., Taleban, F. A., Alavi, F., 

Surmaghi, M. H. S., Mehrabi, Y., & Shahbazi, S. (2013). 

Effect of enteral feeding with ginger extract in acute 

respiratory distress syndrome. Journal of critical care, 28(2), 

217. e211-217. e216.  

Shin, D., Mukherjee, R., Grewe, D., Bojkova, D., Baek, K., 

Bhattacharya, A., . . . Tascher, G. (2020). Papain-like protease 

regulates SARS-CoV-2 viral spread and innate immunity. 

nature, 587(7835), 657-662.  

Shokr, E., & Mohamed, E. (2019). Effect of ginger on some 

hematological aspects and immune system in Nile Tilapia. Int. 

J. Aqua, 12(1), 1-18.  

Shukla, Y., & Singh, M. (2007). Cancer preventive properties of 

ginger: a brief review. Food and chemical toxicology, 45(5), 

683-690.  

Si, W., Chen, Y. P., Zhang, J., Chen, Z.-Y., & Chung, H. Y. 

(2018). Antioxidant activities of ginger extract and its 

constituents toward lipids. Food chemistry, 239, 1117-1125.  

Simon, P. S., Sharman, S. K., Lu, C., Yang, D., Paschall, A. V., 

Tulachan, S. S., & Liu, K. (2015). The NF-κB p65 and p50 

homodimer cooperate with IRF8 to activate iNOS 

transcription. BMC cancer, 15(1), 1-12.  

Singh, G., Kapoor, I., Singh, P., de Heluani, C. S., de Lampasona, 

M. P., & Catalan, C. A. (2008). Chemistry, antioxidant and 

antimicrobial investigations on essential oil and oleoresins of 

Zingiber officinale. Food and chemical toxicology, 46(10), 

3295-3302.  

Sivasothy, Y., Chong, W. K., Hamid, A., Eldeen, I. M., Sulaiman, 

S. F., & Awang, K. (2011). Essential oils of Zingiber officinale 

var. rubrum Theilade and their antibacterial activities. Food 

chemistry, 124(2), 514-517.  

Snuossi, M., Trabelsi, N., Ben Taleb, S., Dehmeni, A., Flamini, G., 

& De Feo, V. (2016). Laurus nobilis, Zingiber officinale and 

Anethum graveolens essential oils: Composition, antioxidant 

and antibacterial activities against bacteria isolated from fish 

and shellfish. Molecules, 21(10), 1414.  

Srinivasan, K. (2014). Antioxidant potential of spices and their 

active constituents. Critical reviews in food science and 

nutrition, 54(3), 352-372.  

Srivastava, A. N., Gupta, A., Srivastava, S., Natu, S. M., Mittal, 

B., Negi, M. P., & Prasad, R. (2010). Cisplatin combination 

chemotherapy induces oxidative stress in advance non small 

cell lung cancer patients. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 11(2), 465-

471.  

Stoilova, I., Krastanov, A., Stoyanova, A., Denev, P., & Gargova, 

S. (2007). Antioxidant activity of a ginger extract (Zingiber 

officinale). Food chemistry, 102(3), 764-770.  

Stone, J. G., Siedlak, S. L., Tabaton, M., Hirano, A., Castellani, R. 

J., Santocanale, C., . . . Lee, H.-g. (2011). The cell cycle 

regulator phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein is associated 

with tau pathology in several tauopathies. Journal of 

Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 70(7), 578-587.  

Sung, H., Ferlay, J., Siegel, R. L., Laversanne, M., Soerjomataram, 

I., Jemal, A., & Bray, F. (2021). Global cancer statistics 2020: 

GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide 

for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: a cancer journal for 

clinicians, 71(3), 209-249.  

Supardan, M. D., Fuadi, A., Alam, P. N., & Arpi, N. (2012). 

Solvent extraction of ginger oleoresin using ultrasound. 

Makara Journal of Science, 163-167.  

Tahir, A. A., Sani, N. F. A., Murad, N. A., Makpol, S., Ngah, W. 

Z. W., & Yusof, Y. A. M. (2015). Combined ginger extract & 

Gelam honey modulate Ras/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathway 

genes in colon cancer HT29 cells. Nutrition journal, 14(1), 1-

10.  

Talpur, A. D., Ikhwanuddin, M., & Bolong, A.-M. A. (2013). 

Nutritional effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) on 

immune response of Asian sea bass, Lates calcarifer (Bloch) 

and disease resistance against Vibrio harveyi. Aquaculture, 

400, 46-52.  

Thorburn, A. (2007). Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-

inducing ligand (TRAIL) pathway signaling. J Thorac Oncol, 

2(6), 461-465. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTO.0b013e31805fea64  

Tohma, H., Gülçin, İ., Bursal, E., Gören, A. C., Alwasel, S. H., & 

Köksal, E. (2017). Antioxidant activity and phenolic 

compounds of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) determined 

by HPLC-MS/MS. Journal of Food Measurement and 

Characterization, 11(2), 556-566.  

Tripathi, S., Maier, K. G., Bruch, D., & Kittur, D. S. (2007). Effect 

of 6-gingerol on pro-inflammatory cytokine production and 

costimulatory molecule expression in murine peritoneal 

macrophages. Journal of Surgical Research, 138(2), 209-213.  

Ueno, N., Hasebe, T., Kaneko, A., Yamamoto, M., Fujiya, M., 

Kohgo, Y., . . . Bissonnette, M. (2014). TU-100 (daikenchuto) 

and ginger ameliorate anti-CD3 antibody induced T cell-

mediated murine enteritis: Microbe-independent effects 

involving Akt and NF-κB suppression. PloS one, 9(5), e97456.  

Vaillant, A. A. J., & Qurie, A. (2021). Immunodeficiency. In 

StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.  

Varela, M. L., Mogildea, M., Moreno, I., & Lopes, A. J. I. (2018). 

Acute inflammation and metabolism. 41(4), 1115-1127.  

Varoni, E. M., Faro, A. F. L., Lodi, G., Carrassi, A., Iriti, M., & 

Sardella, A. (2018). Melatonin treatment in patients with 

burning mouth syndrome: A triple-blind, placebo-controlled, 

crossover randomized clinical trial.  

Verma, S., Singh, M., Jain, P., & Bordia, A. (2004). Protective 

effect of ginger, Zingiber officinale Rosc on experimental 

atherosclerosis in rabbits.  

Wang, J., Prinz, R. A., Liu, X., & Xu, X. (2020). In vitro and in 

vivo antiviral activity of gingerenone A on influenza A virus is 

mediated by targeting janus kinase 2. Viruses, 12(10), 1141.  

Wang, Z., Wang, L., Li, T., Zhou, X., Ding, L., Yu, Y., . . . Zhang, 

H. (2006). Rapid analysis of the essential oils from dried 

Illicium verum Hook. f. and Zingiber officinale Rosc. by 

improved solvent-free microwave extraction with three types 

of microwave-absorption medium. Analytical and 

bioanalytical chemistry, 386(6), 1863-1868.  

WHO. (2021). Antimicrobial resistance report 2021: Available 

online at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance.  

WHO. (2022). Global Hepatitis report 2022: available online at: 

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c.  

Wijesundara, N. M., & Rupasinghe, H. V. (2018). Essential oils 

from Origanum vulgare and Salvia officinalis exhibit 

antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities against Streptococcus 

pyogenes. Microbial pathogenesis, 117, 118-127.  

Wojdyło, A., Oszmiański, J., & Czemerys, R. (2007). Antioxidant 

activity and phenolic compounds in 32 selected herbs. Food 

chemistry, 105(3), 940-949.  

Zhang, F., Zhang, J.-G., Qu, J., Zhang, Q., Prasad, C., & Wei, Z.-J. 

(2017). Assessment of anti-cancerous potential of 6-gingerol 

(Tongling White Ginger) and its synergy with drugs on human 



 

 
 

 Shahzad et al. – Medicinal importance of ginger  389 
 

 

cervical adenocarcinoma cells. Food and chemical toxicology, 

109, 910-922.  

Zhang, G., Nitteranon, V., Chan, L. Y., & Parkin, K. L. (2013). 

Glutathione conjugation attenuates biological activities of 6-

dehydroshogaol from ginger. Food chemistry, 140(1-2), 1-8.  

Zhang, M., Viennois, E., Prasad, M., Zhang, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, 

Z., . . . Srinivasan, S. (2016). Edible ginger-derived 

nanoparticles: A novel therapeutic approach for the prevention 

and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and colitis-

associated cancer. Biomaterials, 101, 321-340.  

Zhou, H.-l., Deng, Y.-m., & Xie, Q.-m. (2006). The modulatory 

effects of the volatile oil of ginger on the cellular immune 

response in vitro and in vivo in mice. Journal of 

ethnopharmacology, 105(1-2), 301-305.  

Zhou, Y., Hong, Y., & Huang, H. (2016). Triptolide attenuates 

inflammatory response in membranous glomerulo-nephritis rat 

via downregulation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Kidney and 

Blood Pressure Research, 41(6), 901-910.  

 

 



 

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK