आर्द्रकम् - Zingiber officinale
Name - शुण्टी
Botanical name - Zingiber officinale
Description - Slender aromatic rhizomatous herbs with leafy stems. Leaves linear-lanceolate, distichous, subsessile. Flowers greenish- yellow with dark purple or purplish black tip, in spikes. The rhizomes are scraped of their skin before drying. Lime is used as dust preservative.
Chemical Constituents- Rhizomes contain diarylheptanoids, essential oil, ginger diol and related compounds. Predominant sesquiterpene is zingiberene; others present are: cis-sesquisabinene hydrate, zingiberneol, ar-curcumine, Beta-bisabolene, r-selinene, Beta-elemene, Beta-sesquiphellandrene, zingiberenol, sesqui-thujene. Monoterpene hydrocarbons present in the oil include camphene, 7 beta-pinene, cumene, myrcene, limonene,. p-cymene and Beta-phellandrene; oleoresin gingerin (known in trade) contains gingerol, shogaol, zingerone and paradol.
Use - The drug is pungent and aromatic. It dialates the blood vessels, causes warmth, increases perspiration, brings down temperature in fevers, and serves as stimulant digestive, and carminative. Rhizome forms the source of the drug Ginger which is used as a carminative and stimulant and also given in flatulence and colic.
