Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a well-known spice and herbal medicine used to treat diseases such as the common cold, cough and gastrointestinal problems. In particular, its effective components, like volatile oil and protease, have been successfully developed and applied to clinic situations and in daily life. However, there is no published investigation of polysaccharides and flavonoids from ginger and their antibacterial activities. This study revealed that the ethanol extracts of ginger and crude flavonoids exhibit antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (ATCC25922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923) and the following air isolates, Shigella fiexneri (ATCC12022), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC13315), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853), while ginger polysaccharides and aqueous extracts of ginger are inactive. The MIC of crude flavonoids was 25 μg/ml for Escherichia coli (ATCC25922), and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923) and its air isolated strain was 50 μg/ml for Shigella fiexneri (ATCC12022), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC13315), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC6633b), while the MIC of the ethanol for the above strains was 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml respectively.

Key words: dried ginger, polysaccharide, flavonoids, antibacterial activity