Gingerol

Gingerol is a phenol found in only fresh ginger.

Links to Plants Containing Gingerol

RESEARCH

The listings of research below represents a compilation of scientific articles found on the topic, with a very brief overview description of each article/study.  This compilation of research articles does not necessarily imply that there are adequate results to demonstrate safe and/or effective human use of any herb listed.

GENERAL

• Gingerol and shogaol from Z. officinale demonstrated sedative, antipyretic, analgesic, gastric relaxant, and anti-tussive activity.  From:  SUEKAWA, M., ISHIGE, A., YUASA, K., SUDO, K., ABURADA, M., & HOSOYA, E. (1984). Pharmacological studies on Ginger. I. Pharmacological actions of pungent constituents,(6)-gingerol and (6)-shogaol. Journal of pharmacobio-dynamics, 7(11), 836-848.

ANTIMICROBIAL

• Ginger rhizome’s gingerol component was an active inhibitor of M. avium and M. tuberculosis in vitro. From:  Hiserodt, R. D., Franzblau, S. G., & Rosen, R. T. (1998). Isolation of 6-, 8-, and 10-Gingerol from Ginger Rhizome by HPLC and Preliminary Evaluation of Inhibition of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 46(7), 2504-2508.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY / ANALGESIC

• Gingerol possessed analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in paw edema.  From:  Young, H. Y., Luo, Y. L., Cheng, H. Y., Hsieh, W. C., Liao, J. C., & Peng, W. H. (2005). Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of [6]-gingerol. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 96(1), 207-210.
• Phytochemicals derived from spices can reduce inflammatory diseases.  These include:  turmeric (curcumin), red pepper (capsaicin), cloves (eugenol), ginger (gingerol), cumin, anise (anethol), fennel (anethol), basil (ursolic acid), rosemary (ursolic acid), garlic (diallyl sulfide, S-allylmercaptocysteine, and ajoene), and pomegranate (ellagic acid). From:  Aggarwal, B. B., & Shishodia, S. (2004). Suppression of the Nuclear Factor‐κB Activation Pathway by Spice‐Derived Phytochemicals: Reasoning for Seasoning. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1030(1), 434-441.
• The gingerol constituent isolated from ginger showed chemo-preventive and anti-inflammatory action in skin cells in vitro.  From:  Park, K. K., Chun, K. S., Lee, J. M., Lee, S. S., & Surh, Y. J. (1998). Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol, a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation, epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice. Cancer letters, 129(2), 139-144.

GASTROPROTECTIVE

• Ginger had a protective effect in rats induced with gastric ulcers, likely related to gingerol and shogaol constituents.  From:  Wang, Z., Hasegawa, J., Wang, X., Matsuda, A., Tokuda, T., Miura, N., & Watanabe, T. (2011). Protective effects of ginger against aspirin-induced gastric ulcers in rats. Yonago acta medica, 54(1), 11.

ANTIOXIDANT

• Gingerol from Zingiber officinale Roscoe showed antioxidant activity. From:  Masuda, Y., Kikuzaki, H., Hisamoto, M., & Nakatani, N. (2004). Antioxidant properties of gingerol related compounds from ginger. Biofactors, 21(1‐4), 293-296.

ANTI-CANCER

• Ginger root extracts and its gingerols inhibit the growth of H. pylori strains in vitro and this may contribute to its chemopreventative capability. From:  Mahady, G. B., Pendland, S. L., Yun, G. S., Lu, Z. Z., & Stoia, A. (2003). Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and the gingerols inhibit the growth of Cag A+ strains of Helicobacter pylori. Anticancer research, 23, 3699.
• Gingerol reduced induced skin tumors and inflammation in rodents.  From:  Park, K. K., Chun, K. S., Lee, J. M., Lee, S. S., & Surh, Y. J. (1998). Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol, a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation, epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice. Cancer letters, 129(2), 139-144.
• This review discussed research on anti-cancer effects of ginger and constituents including:  vallinoids, gingerol paradol, shogaols, and zingerone.  From:  Shukla, Y., & Singh, M. (2007). Cancer preventive properties of ginger: a brief review. Food and chemical toxicology, 45(5), 683-690.
• Gingerol and paradol in ginger exerted inhibitory effects on the DNA synthesis of human promyelocytic leukemia cells.  From:  Lee, E., & Surh, Y. J. (1998). Induction of apoptosis in HL-60 cells by pungent vanilloids,[6]-gingerol and [6]-paradol. Cancer letters, 134(2), 163-168.

By: Kathy Sadowski

Updated: 1/11/19