Tongling (Anhui Province, China) has traditionally been regarded as an ideal cultivation place (Fig.1-a). “Tongling White Ginger” (Fig.1-b) enjoys a reputation for being one of top gingers in China for its thin white peel, tender flesh, rich juice and flavor, which was, therefore, regarded as “one of the eight treasures” in Tongling. However, except for the essential oil, no details of the chemical profile of “Tongling White Ginger” have been reported previously.

Prof. Liu Jikai, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, launched a detailed study on the chemical constituents of an ethanol extract of Tongling White Ginger, which resulted in the isolation of a total of 42 compounds including four new ones (Fig.1-c). The new compounds 1-4 showed weak cytotoxic and anti-HIV-1 activities. Besides, three known compounds showed inhibitory activities against human and mouse 11-HSD1 (11-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases) with IC50 values between 1.09-1.30 mM.

This research were reported on The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry entitled with “Chemical Constituents and Their Bioactivities of “Tongling White Ginger” (Zingiber officinale)” (2011, 59, 11690–11695). This study will be a good footstone for the development of Tongling White Ginger.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf202544w?mi=tj0q2p&af=R&pageSize=20&startYear=2011&startMonth=1&pubDateRange=epubDateRange&searchText=HIV+drug

Fig. 1  New compounds from “Tongling White Ginger”, Tongling, Anhui Province, China. (image by FENG Tao)