SPICES AND FLAVORINGS 249 



GINGER 



The well known plant which is a source of commercial 

 ginger (Zingiber officinale) is native to southern Asia, but 

 ginger is now cultivated throughout the Tropics. It is a peren- 

 nial herb belonging to the family Scitamineae, with leafy stems 

 1 8 to 24 inches high and leaves 6 to 8 inches long and I inch 

 wide. The plant bears a terminal cone of handsome curiously 

 shaped flowers on a separate stalk or occasionally at the end 

 of the leaf stalk. The flowers are yellowish- white, with a black 

 and yellow spotted lip. The white, scaly, aromatic rootstock 

 is the source of ginger. These roots are dipped in boiling 

 water, peeled, and dried or may be merely washed and dried. 

 In Jamaica it is customary to classify ginger as yellow or 

 blue, referring to the color of the rootstock. Yellow ginger 

 is preferred. A mountain variety of ginger is widely used 

 in China in making the familiar preserved ginger. 



Ginger is propagated only by short cuttings of the roots. 

 It is planted in rows 24 inches apart and 14 inches in the row. 

 Ginger is commonly cultivated by a system of raised beds. 

 The roots are harvested about 10 months from the time of 

 planting, maturity of the roots being indicated by a withering 

 of the leaves. The yield ranges from 1,000 to 2,500 pounds of 

 dried ginger per acre. In drying the roots lose about 70 per 

 cent, of their weight and then contain about 10 per cent, of 

 water. Drying is accomplished in the sun or by the use of 

 artificial heat. 



Ginger is an important crop in Malabar, Bombay, Malaya, 

 Sierra Leone, Fiji, Barbados, and Santa Luzia, but especially 

 in Jamaica, which exports about 2,000,000 pounds of dried 

 ginger annually. The United States imported 3,500,000 pounds 

 of ginger in 1914. Ginger is used as a spice, in confectionery, 

 beverages, curry, medicine, and as preserved ginger. The 

 essential oil, called ginger oil, from the rootstocks is used in 

 the essence of ginger. Experiments have shown that ginger 



