Ginger

Ginger, the rhizome of Zingibar officinale, a perennial monocotyledon, probably native to tropical Asia, but now cultivated throughout the tropics. It occurs in commerce in two forms - "coated," retaining a brown wrinkled epidermis, and "uncoated," or scraped and dried or bleached. This bleaching is effected by sulphur fumes or chloride of lime, or the ginger is often actually whitewashed with whiting or plaster-of-Paris. The best quality is that from Jamaica. Our total imports vary from 1,600 to 3,500 tons annually. The chief constituents of ginger are starch, a volatile oil to which the odour is due, and a resin which gives it its pungency. The younger shoots (or "green" ginger) are preserved in syrup as a sweetmeat; but the Chinese preserved ginger is mainly the product of the Galangal (q.v.).