Biochemical Screening of Ethanolic Extracts of Five Accessions of Zingiber Officinale Roscoe . Rhizomes from Kumaun and Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand , India

Natural bioactive compounds especially from plant sources, including spices have been investigated for their characteristics and health effects. India has been recognized as a land of spices. Spices form an important ingredient of Indian food system. Spices have been known for years as effective therapeutic food [1]. Spices are non-leafy parts (e.g. bud, fruit, seed, bark, rhizome, bulb) of plants used as a flavoring or seasoning, although many can also be used as a herbal medicine. Ginger, Zingiber officinale Roscoe, a monocotyledonous herbaceous plant of family Zingiberaceae is widely used around the world in foods as a spice and it has been an important ingredient for the treatment of several diseases [2]. It is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical countries including China, India, Nigeria, Australia, Jamaica and Haiti. Among which, India and China are the world’s leading producers of ginger [3]. Uttarakhand state is hub of unique biodiversity comprising different climatic zones with a wide range of plant species. Both Kumaun and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand represents the reservoir of different medicinal and aromatic plants. Floral diversity in terms of genetic and phytochemical in these regions is due to a wide range of climate, topology and environmental conditions. The antioxidant compounds or phytochemicals from natural sources like plants, fruits, crops and spices are important in the food industry because of their usefulness in various food preparations and health promoting effects [4]. Therefore, the demand for natural antioxidants has increased due to the growing interest in the food and pharmaceutical industries for drug development with fewer side effects and potent against various diseases. Ginger extract also has long been used in traditional medical practices to decrease inflammation. Ginger rhizome extracts contain specific phenolic compounds like gingerol, zingerone, shogaols and its derivatives with various biological activities specifically; antioxidant and anticancer [5]. The total phenolics, flavonoids, orthodihydric phenols, proanthocyanidins and tannins are regarded as nutritional secondary metabolites. These compounds present in plants play an important role in protecting the tissues by reducing oxidative stress and enhance the nutritional values of food material. Phenolics include simple phenols, phenolic acids (benzoic and cinnamic acid derivatives), coumarins, flavonoids, stilbenes, hydrolyzable and condensed tannins, lignans, and lignins. These compounds are among the most widely occurring secondary metabolites in the plant kingdom, acting mainly as phytoalexins, attractants for pollinators, contributors to plant pigmentation, antioxidants, and protective agents against UV light, among others [6]. Flavonoids are large family of polyphenolic components synthesized by plants. It was found that flavonoids functioned to reduce blood-lipid and glucose and to enhance human immunity [7]. Flavonoids were also a kind of Abstract In this study, five ginger accessions from Kumaun (Bana, Kapkot, Takula) and Garhwal (Roorkee, Chamoli) region of Uttarakhand were collected and their biochemical screening was evaluated in terms of the total phenolic content, flavonoid content, orthodihydric content, proanthocyanidins content as well as tannin contents in an effort to compare and validate the medicinal & nutritional potential of ginger rhizomes. On the basis of the analysis it was found that the total phenolic content, flavonoid content and orthodihydric content, of ginger sample collected from Bana was highest and least in sample collected from Takula. The maximum tannin content was found in Kapkot and least in Chamoli. The sample collected from Chamoli contains higher proanthocyanidins content while Takula contains the least. The results provided evidence that ginger rhizomes collected from Bana, Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand are potential source of phenolics and could be serve as basis for future drugs and food materials.