Zinziberis Siccum, Dry Ginger, Gan Jiang 干姜

Gan Jiang (TCM)
Shunthi (Ayurveda)
Chuku (Siddha)
Zanjabil, Zanjabeel Khushk (Unani)
Sman Sga སྨན་སྒ (Tibetan)

Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Flora Sinensis, Boym, 1653

Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

Medical Botany, Woodville, Hooker, 1832

Chinese Ginger

Culcutta Ginger

Jamaica Ginger

African Ginger

Squibb’s Atlas of the Official Drugs, Mansfield, 1919

Botanical name:

Zingiber officinalis

Parts used:

Dry Rhizome

Temperature & Taste:

Hot, dry. Pungent

Classifications:

2B ATTENUATER.    2F. PURIFYING.    2H. CARMINATIVE.
3F. LITHONTRIPTIC.    3H. LACTAGOGUE.    3L. ANTI-TUSSIVE.    3P. MASTICATORIES & STERNUTATORIES.
3K. EXPECTORANT
3I. APHRODISIAC.    3J. INCREASE SEMEN (candied Ginger)
4e. STOMACHIC.   4g. HEPATIC.    4h. NEPHRITIC
TCM:
M. Warm to Clear Cold

Uses:

1. Warms the Yang, Clears Cold: (West, TCM, Ayurveda, Tibetan)
-poor circulation due to coldness, or lack of body heat; coldness of the limbs, weak pulse
-poor circulation, chilblains, cramp, fibrositis and muscle strain.
-impotence from cold (Ginger with Honey, or Candied Ginger); and to stimulate erection
-poor Heart function from Cold manifesting as Palpitations.
-Amenorrhoea and Dysmenorrhea from cold
-exhaustion during or after Childbirth.
-‘Profitable for the Old’.
-Muscle and Joint pain; Rheumatic and Arthritic pains and swellings
-Diabetes; Hypoglycemia, and to lower Cholesterol.

2. Warms the Stomach, Promotes Digestion: (West, TCM, Ayurveda, Tibetan)
-‘strengthens and fortifies the stomach’ (Galen)
-vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, flatulence, colic from Cold
-nausea from cold: motion sickness, morning sickness, nausea related to flus or virus, nausea from medication etc.
-Gastric Ulcers

3. Warms the Lungs, Clears Cold Phlegm: (West, TCM, Ayurveda, Tibetan)
-Lung conditions from cold-type phlegm (TCM, West)
-Cough, Wheezing

4. Clears Wind and Phlegm, Clears the Sight:
-traditionally used for Headaches, Vertigo and Dizziness the latter 2 of which have been confirmed in modern trials.
-Unani texts list it for Wind diseases while Ayurvedic texts state it regulates Wind
-Paralysis, Sciatica, Migraine (Unani)
-‘effectually oppose itself against all Darkness of Sight’ (Gerard)
-‘increases Intelligence’ (Mahadevadeva, Unani)
-used as snuff to cause sneezing which clears the head.

5. Clears Cold, Stops Bleeding: (TCM)
-chronic bleeding from coldness; pale face and tongue, weak and thin pulse, coldness of the limbs, blood is pale and thin looking.
-especially suitable for Uterine bleeding. (Burnt Ginger is most often used)

Dose:

Dry Ginger: in decoction: 3–9 grams;
Powder: 500mg–3 grams

Comment:

1. Fresh Ginger is more tempered in its Heat and works more superficially, promoting Sweat and clearing Cold from the surface of the body in Cold and Flu. It is also very good to promote digestion and enhance assimilation and is beneficially used in cooking for this purpose.
2. Dry Ginger is Hot and works deeper in the body, especially the Spleen and Kidneys. It warms the Yang and is stronger for Internal Cold.
3. In practice, the distinction between fresh and Dry Ginger is more prominent in TCM. For example, Ayurveda will commonly apply Dry Ginger to acute Cold and Flu and fresh or Candied Ginger can be used to Warm the Kidney Yang. Likewise TCM will prefer carbonised Ginger for Cold-type Bleeding but we can see evidence of Dry Ginger being used for this purpose without being carbonised.
4. Candied (or Conserved) Ginger is Warm and Sweet. It increases Yang and is useful for Impotence and is traditionally regarded as Aphrodisiac. It warms and strengthens a Cold Stomach.
5. Ginger Skin clears Water and is useful in Edema and Fluid retention from Cold and Damp.
6. Carbonised Ginger is more effective to stop Cold-type Bleeding, especially Uterine Bleeding.

Correctives:

1. Honey
2. Licorice
3. Almond oil (Ayurveda)
4. Camphor (Unani)

Substitute:

1. Fresh and Dried Ginger are the best substitutes for one another according to Unani physicians.
2. Black Pepper (Unani)
3. Galangal
4. Hedichium spicatum is used as a substitute in Tibetan Medicine (Buryat region)
5. “The substitute of dried Ginger is Pellitory [Pyrethrum].” (Avicenna)

Preparation:

1. Quick-Fried Ginger Pao Jiang
Dry Ginger is stir-fried in a hot dry wok until it is fragrant and slightly scorched.
This is better for Bleeding from Cold, and lower abdominal cold and pain.

Main Combinations:

-Ginger with Long and Black Pepper (Trikatu)
Often combined with Long and/or Black Pepper; the three together form Trikatu (‘Three Pungents’) of Ayurveda. Used to clear cold, resolve Damp, promote digestion and increase assimilation and bio-availability. They are often added to formulas of Traditional Medicine.

1. Ginger Pills: Combine Ginger powder and Ginger juice to form pills. Good to clear Cold, warm the Stomach, increase circulation; for Cold, Flu, Headache, Joint pain etc. (Ayurveda)
2. Acute Cold or Flu from Wind-Cold:
i. Ginger, with Cinnamon, Lemongrass (Ayurveda)
ii. as a Diaphoretic, Ginger with Long and Black Pepper, Cardamon, Grains of Paradise, Camphor (as in Diaphoretic Specific of Paracelsus)
3. Cold Phlegm:
i. Ginger with Mastic and Turbith (as in Powder of Turbith of Avicenna)
ii. Ginger with Mastic, Aniseed, Turbith (as in Compound of Turbith with Anise)
iii. Ginger with Agaric, Chebulic Myrobalan, Turbith, Aniseed, Mastic, Clove, Cinnamon (as in Infusion to Purge Phlegm more Compound of Mesue)
4. Cold Cough:
i, Ginger with Elecampane, Licorice, Aniseed
ii. Ginger with Adhatoda, Long Pepper (Ayurveda)
5. Fever, Indigestion, Diarrhea, Bronchitis, Ginger with Black and Long Pepper, Clove, Nutmeg (as in Powder of Clove, of Ayurveda)
6. Poor digestion, Nausea, Vomiting, Cough, Asthma, Ginger with Long and Black Pepper, Indian Spikenard, Clove, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Camphor (as in Powder of Camphor or Ayurveda)
7. Diarrhea:
i. Ginger with Tormentil, Galangal, Mastic (as in Decoction of Tormentil)
ii. Ginger with Tormentil, Galangal, Marshmallow (as in Powder of Tormentil Compound)
8. To warm and strengthen the Stomach:
i. Ginger with Galangal, Clove, Cinnamon, Cardamon, Indian Spikenard, Pine nut, Pistachio, Aniseed, Licorice, Saffron (as in Diazingiber of Nicholas)
ii. Ginger with Calamus and Orange peel
iii. Candied Ginger, Extract of Juniper (½ oz. each), Conserve of Roses, candied Lemon peel (2 oz. each), Cinnamon, Nutmeg (1 ½ drams each), with Syrup of Quince, form an Electuary. Take 2 drams after meals to strengthen Digestion. (A Treatise on Foreign Drugs, Geoffroy and Thicknesse, 1749)
iv. Ginger with Cardamon, Cinnamon, Clove, Nutmeg, Saffron (as in Electuary of Ginger, Unani)
9. Poor appetite during Pregnancy, Ginger with Long Pepper, Cumin and Celery seed, as a powder with Honey (Ayurveda)
10. Morning Sickness, Ginger with Coriander seed, Cyperus rotundus
11. Coldness of the Heart, Heart congestion, poor circulation:
i. Ginger with Bdellium, Arjuna
ii. Ginger, Frankincense, Saffron, Rose
12. Dizziness, Vertigo, Ginger with Peony, Nutmeg, Mistletoe, Galangal, Long Pepper, Tormenti, Rosemary (as in Powder for Dizziness and Vertigo)
13. Arthritis:
i. Ginger with Clove, Costus, Elecampane, Cumin, Colchicum (as in Electuary of Clove and Costus)
14. Dysmenorrhea: Ginger, Turmeric, Rose (Ayurveda)
15. Promote sperm production in cold bodies, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg
16. Against Poison: Ginger with Saffron, Cinnamon, Costus, Schoenanth, Frankincense (as in Powder for Mortal Poison)
17. Scoliosis and crookedness of the Spine, Confected Ginger with Calamus, Betony, Bdellium, Stoechas, Rue, Artichoke root, Licorice (Wizrtung)

Major Formulas:

Electuary of Ginger (Dia Zingiber) (Nicholas)
Infusion to Purge Phlegm more Compound of Mesue
Decoction of Tormentil
Powder of Turbith (Avicenna)
Compound of Turbith with Anise
Powder of Senna (Montagna)
Powder of Three Peppers (Diatrion Piperion) (Mesue)
Powder of Tormentil Compound
The Powder of Trithemius
Powder for Dizziness and Vertigo
Powder for Melancholy (Philon)
Powder to Purge Phlegm (Unani)
Emperors Powder
Species Incisa (Augustine Pharmacopoeia)
Antidote for Wind and Cold (Nicholas)
Antidotum Augustini (Nicholas)
Electuary of Aloeswood of Avicenna
Electuary of Clove and Costus
Pluchea and Bdellium Pills (Rasna Guggulu) (Ayurveda)

Eight-Limbed Electuary (Ayurveda)
Powder of Clove (Ayurveda)
Powder of Camphor (Ayurveda)
Cardamon 10 (Sug smel bcu pa) (Tibetan Medicine)

Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang
Fu Zi Li Zhong Wan
Gan Cao Gan Jiang Tang
Gan Jiang Huang Qin Huang Lian Ren Shen Tang
Gui Zhi Ren Shen Tang
Li Zhong Wan
Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang
Shi Wei Bai Du San
Si Ni Tang
Wen Pi Tang
Xiao Qing Long Tang
Zheng Qi Tian Xiang San

Cautions:

1. Dry Ginger should be avoided in cases with Heat and Yin Deficiency.
2. Limit dose to 2–3 grams of dry Ginger during Pregnancy or in bleeding disorders.
3. ‘it ought not to be given in a large Dose to Melancholics; because it renders the melancholic Humours thicker, more fixed, and sometimes, says Herman, altogether immovable.’ (A Treatise on Foreign Drugs, Geoffroy and Thicknesse, 1749)

Main Preparations used:

Candied Ginger, Green Ginger

Extra Info
History
Research

‘Ginger is known in India under the old name of Sringavera, derived possibly from the Greek [?]. As a spice it was used among the Greeks and Romans, who appear to have received it by way of the Red Sea, inasmuch as they considered it to be a production of Southern Arabia.

In the list of imports from the Red Sea into Alexandria, which in the second century of our era were there liable to the Roman fiscal duty (vectigal), Zingiber occurs among other Indian spices. During the middle ages it is frequently mentioned in similar lists, and evidently constituted an important item in the commercial relations between Europe and the East. Ginger thus appears in the tariff of duties levied at Acre in Palestine about A.D. 1173; in that of Barcelona in 1221; Marseilles in 1228; and Paris in 1290. The Tarif des Peages, or customs tariff, of the Counts of Provence in the middle of the 13th century, provides for the levying of duty at the towns of Aix, Digne, Valensole, Tarascon, Avignon, Orgon, Aries, &c, on various commodities imported from the East. These included spices, as pepper, ginger, cloves, zedoary, galangal, cubebs, saffron, canella, cumin, anise; dye stuffs, such as lac, indigo, Brazil wood, and especially alum from Castilia and Volcano; and groceries, as racalicia (liquorice), sugar and dates.

In England ginger must have been tolerably well known even prior to the Norman Conquest, for it is frequently named in the Anglo- Saxon leech-books of the 11th century, as well as in the Welsh “Physicians of Myddvai“. During the 13th and 14th centuries it was, next to pepper, the commonest of spices, costing on an average nearly 1s. 7d. per lb., or about the price of a sheep.

The merchants of Italy,about the middle of the 14th century, knew three kinds of ginger, called respectively Belledi, Colombino, and Micchino. These terms may be explained thus:–Belledi or Baladi is an Arabic word, which, as applied to ginger, would signify country or wild, i.e. common ginger. Colombino refers to Columbum, Kolamor Quilon, a port in Travancore frequently mentioned in the middle ages. Ginger termed Micchino denotes that the spice had been brought from or by way of Mecca.

Ginger preserved in syrup, and sometimes called Green Ginger, was also imported during the middle ages, and regarded as a delicacy of the choicest kind.

The plant affording ginger must have been known to Marco Polo (circa 1280-90), who speaks of observing it both in China and India. John of Montecorvino, who visited India about 1292, describes ginger as a plant like a flag, the root of which can be dug up and transported. Nicolo Conti also gave some description of the plant and of the collection of the root, as witnessed by him in India.

The Venetians received ginger by way of Egypt; yet some of the superior kinds were conveyed from India overland by the Black Sea, as stated by Marino Sanudo about 1306.

Ginger was introduced into America by Francisco de Mendoca, who took it from the East Indies to New Spain. It was shipped for commercial purposes from the Island of St. Domingo as early at least as 1585; and from Barbados in 1654. According to Renny, 22,053 cwt. were exported from the West Indies to Spain in 1547. (Pharmacographia, Fluckiger & Hanbury, 1879)

Zinziberis Siccum, Dry Ginger PRO