Introducing their study, authors Ghasemzadeh and Jaafar (2011) say “there is an increasing interest in using appropriate strategies and management practices to improve the quality of food crops by enhancing their nutritive and health-promoting properties.”
And in this regard, they note that the rhizomes of young ginger (Zingiber officinale) plants – which are widely used to produce a culinary spice – are also employed in the treatment of oral diseases, leucorrhoea, stomach pain and discomfort, inflammation and dysentery, and as a diuretic, further noting that Shukla et al. (2007) reported finding “cancer preventive properties of ginger.”
Against this backdrop, Ghasemzadeh and Jaafar grew leaf and rhizome extracts from two Malaysian young ginger varieties (Halia Bentong and Halia Bara) under ambient (400 ppm) and elevated (800 ppm) atmospheric CO2 concentrations, studying their antioxidant and in vitro anticancer activities against two human cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). According to the two Malaysian researchers who conducted the analysis, the antioxidant activities of the leaf and rhizome extracts were “increased significantly” by the elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration; and they found that the greatest enhancement was observed in the leaf extract. In addition, they say their results “showed strong inhibitory activity of Malaysian young ginger varieties on human breast cancer cells,” indicating that “some compounds in Malaysian young ginger varieties possess anticancer activities and may contribute to the therapeutic effect of this medicinal herb.”
Ghasemzadeh and Jaafar conclude their paper by stating that their results suggest that “enriched ginger varieties by elevated CO2 concentration could be employed in ethno-medicine for the management of breast cancerous diseases.” But they indicate that “more focused clinical studies are necessary to establish whether these varieties can be exploited to reach cancer blocking or remedial effects in the human body.”
