The antimicrobial properties of Zingiber officinale (ginger)

Background: During recent years, herbal medicine has become an increasingly scientifically based system of healing.Zingiber officinale (ginger) is one of the most well-known medicinal plants. Due to emerging of antibiotic resistance, the use of medicinal plants has been developed. Methods: It has been tried to investigate related literatures about medicinal plants and collect the antimicrobial features about them. Results: In general, Gram‐positive bacteria were more sensitive to inhibition by plant essential oils than the Gram‐negative bacteria. The antimicrobial properties of various extract of Zingiber officinale (ginger) against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are common causes of gastrointestinal track infection, has been proven. It is indicated that ginger essential oil is the most efficient against S. aureus. The antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity of ethanolic extract from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale against the P. aeruginosa, E.coli and gram positive cocci biofilms has been shown. Ginger extract successfully inhibited biofilm formation by Acinetobacter baumannii, Bacillus cereus, Candida krusei, and Candida albicans. Conclusion: Plants have been used for thousands of years to flavor and conserve food, to treat health disorders and to prevent diseases including epidemics. Alkaloids, tannins, saponins, steroid, terpenoid, flavonoids, phlobatannin and cardic glycoside distribution in medicinal plants belonging to different families were assessed and compared. Scientists have concluded that one of the main solutions to deal with antibiotic resistance is developing the use of medicinal plants in order to infections treatment.

Keywords:

Antimicrobial effect , Ginger , Chemical components