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BACKGROUND: The rhizome of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the most patronized spices worldwide and plays an
important role in folklore medicine. In this study, we aimed to determine the quality of ginger samples from representative
West African (Ghana, Nigeria) and East African (Uganda, Kenya) countries. By that, we also implicitly sought to determine
the probable influence of location of cultivation (and the intrinsic growth conditions) on the quality of the samples. The ginger
samples were pretreated by osmosonication prior to relative humidity convective drying and analyzed for differences in their
metabolomes, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activities, sensory characteristics and
volatile compounds composition (via electronic-nose determination).
RESULTS: The outcome of our study showed marked source-dependent differences in the metabolomes of the samples as captured
by a metabolomics approach. Based on the findings of the metabolomics study, 6-gingerol content was quantified and
found to be higher in the samples of West African origin. Also, the samples from the two West African countries contained
higher levels of bioactive phytochemicals as evinced by the results of TPC, TFC, e-nose analysis, and antioxidant activities. They
also gave better sensory attributes.
CONCLUSION: In summary, for all parameters assessed, and on a country-by-country basis, the general quality trend observed
was: Ghana > Nigeria > Uganda > Kenya. All results taken together, our findings at least in part, point to the influence of geographical
regions of cultivation on the quality of the ginger rhizomes. |
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