MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF GINGER WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON ANTIMICROBIAL EFFECT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Ginger belongs to the genus Zingiber, which contains over 1,300 species. Zingiber officinale is the most commercially cultivated species, and it is widely recognized for its distinct medicinal properties. Ginger exhibits a broad antimicrobial spectrum, targeting bacteria, fungi, viruses, and Gram-negative bacteria through various mechanisms. Bioactive compounds of Ginger, 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol destabilize bacterial cell membranes, causing leakage of cellular contents. Gingers essential oil contains a variety of sesquiterpenes, including zingiberene, B-bisabolene, and a-curcumene. These oils are largely responsible for gingers characteristic aroma and play a role in its antimicrobial effects. Bacteria use quorum sensing to regulate virulence and biofilm formation. Gingers active compounds have been found to inhibit quorum sensing, which reduces bacterial pathogenicity. Apart from antimicrobial effect Ginger and its derivatives are also found to exhibit anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, analgesic, and anti-oxidant properties. The irrational and excessive use of antibiotics has resulted in the rapid emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens and herbal antimicrobials can prove to be an effective alternative approach to tackle this problem. With this background, a systematic review was conducted to explore this aspect of Ginger wherein 14 research publications were selected out of 200 articles searched through databases like Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and through snowballing. The study highlighted the antimicrobial properties of Ginger and paved the way for further exploratory research focused on the clinical application of bioactive compounds derived from the herb.