Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Zingiber officinale (Ginger) and Alpinia officinarum (Galangal)

OpenAlex İngilizce

T he use of spices in the treatment of health prob- lems has been a tradition in the world since early ages.As consumer preferences shift to natural products, the use of spices and natural aromatic plants as antioxidants and antimicrobials instead of synthetic food additives has been back on the agenda recently.The importance of spices and aromatic plants has increased due to the side effects of synthetic drugs and the fact that bacteria can easily develop resistance to these synthetic drugs [1][2][3][4].Alpinia officinarum Hance (galangal) and Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) are aromatic plants, both belong to Zingiberaceae family, rhizomes of which are used as spice [5].Galangal is enriched with bioactive components providing the usage as medicine mostly in Far East countries in many diseases such as cold, bronchitis, stomach ache, diabetes, ulcer, abdominal swelling, diarrhea, vertigo, neupathia, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases etc. [6,7].Ginger is well known for its bioactive constituents, revealing antimicrobial, antifungal and antioxidant effects.It is widely used for its anti-inflammatory and anti-tumorigenic functions in addition to aiding properties of cholesterol