Preparation, pungency and bioactivity of gingerols from ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): a review

Abstract

Ginger has been widely used for different purposes, such as condiment, functional food, drugs, and cosmetics. Gingerols, the main pungent component in ginger, possess a variety of bioactivities. To fully understand the significance of gingerols in the food and pharmaceutical industry, this paper first recaps the composition and physiochemical properties of gingerols, and the major extraction and synthesis methods. Furthermore, the pungency and bioactivity of gingerols are reviewed. In addition, the food application of gingerols and future perspectives are discussed. Gingerols, characterized by a 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl moiety, are divided into gingerols, shogaols, paradols, zingerone, gingerdiones and gingerdiols. At present, gingerols are extracted by conventional, innovative, and integrated extraction methods, and synthesized by chemical, biological and in vitro cell synthesis methods. Gingerols can activate transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) and induce signal transduction, thereby exhibiting its pungent properties and bioactivity. By targeted mediation of various cell signaling pathways, gingerols display potential anticancer, antibacterial, blood glucose regulatory, hepato- and renal-protective, gastrointestinal regulatory, nerve regulatory, and cardiovascular protective effects. This review contributes to the application of gingerols as functional ingredients in the food and pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords:

• Gingerol
• ginger
• pungency
• bioactivity
• transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (32101980), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU019009), Innovation Program for Chongqing’s Overseas Returnees (cx2019072), and the Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJQN202100225).

Author contributions

Yuge Gao: Visualization, Writing - original draft. Yujia Lu: Writing, Reviewing and Editing. Na Zhang: Reviewing, Editing, Resource. Chibuike C. Udenigwe: Writing, Reviewing, Editing. Yuhao Zhang: Writing, Reviewing, Resource. Yu Fu: Conceptualization, Resources, Funding acquisition, Guidance, Writing. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32101980), Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission grant No. (KJQN202100225), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU 019009), China.