Women Growing Ginger, Shell Ginger, Healthier Broilers & Laying Performance

Whilst researching the world of ginger I often come across aspects which I've never encountered or considered before. One such case is a report by the Canadian International Development Research Centre on growing ginger in the Sikkim and West Bengal states in India. In particular it focuses on the social and gendered nature of ginger production. It describes the differing approaches to growing ginger across the many ethnic groups and how these have changed over time. It also examines the difficulties faced by women who want to grow the crop. Although the report is now over five years old I'm sure that many of the issues raised then could still apply today. Have a look for yourself but beware, the report is quite long.

I've never really taken much notice of members of the ginger family other than the one we love to eat and drink (Zingiber officinale). But that was until last week when I discovered an American article about Shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet). This is another "ginger" which can be ingested although claims to its medicinal effectiveness have yet to be scientifically proven. Search the Internet for images of the plant and I think you'll find that it will look quite nice in the garden or as a large houseplant.

It is not only humans who can benefit from ginger. A report on the Effect of Aqueous Extract of Ginger (Zingiber officinale) on Blood Biochemistry Parameters of Broiler has just been published by researchers at the University of Tikrit in Iraq. The aim of the research was to determine whether the addition of aqueous ginger extract to the drinking water would have a beneficial effect on the blood biochemistry of the birds. The research was particularly interested with those factors which could increase the chance of a bird developing diabetes e.g. high cholesterol and blood glucose levels. The outcome, if I can spoil it for you now, was that the addition of aqueous ginger extract at a rate of between 0.4% and 0.6% beneficially reduced the blood glucose, LDL-cholesterol ("bad") and VLDL-cholesterol (could be "bad") levels whilst at the same time increasing the HDL-cholesterol ("good") level. Sounds like a win-win solution.

The result of another poultry and ginger experiment has just been published. Shandong Agricultural University in China and the Lethbridge Research Centre in Canada conducted research into the Effects of ginger root (Zingiber officinale) on laying performance and antioxidant status of laying hens and on dietary oxidation stability. The report in Poultry Science concluded that a diet supplemented with ginger powder improved laying performance and also the serum and egg yolk antioxidant properties. There is no end to the versatility of ginger!