Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXVIII, Issue 1
Written by Dănuț-Mihai PETRE, Monica ENACHE
The Zingiberaceae, the ginger family, is a family of monocotyledonous herbaceous plants with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes. The plants are aromatic, characterized by the presence of volatile oils and oleoresins. The Zingiberaceae are especially abundant in Southeast Asia and they have been widely used as spices, ornamental, or medicinal plants. The most important commercial spices in the family are ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric (Curcuma longa), green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and black cardamom (Amomum subulatum), that also have a great number of health properties. Due to their use in the food and pharmaceutical industries, the microscopic analysis and other parameters of the whole rhizomes/powder of turmeric and ginger provide valuable information in the identification of the plant material, followed by biochemical analysis. In the current study, a microscopic analysis of ginger and turmeric rhizome was carried out to record some of the parameters of taxonomic relevance using a simple method.
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