Ginger - GS questions based on daily current affairs

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Ginger (Zingibers) is used in cooking food. It is a spice.

It also has medicinal value. Some tribes use it for treating abdominal pain and as anti-helminthic troubles.

As per scientific information available, there are 141 species of genus Zingiber are distributed throughout tropical Asia, including China, Japan and tropical Australia.

Of these, 20 are reported from India, which include seven from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Most of the species of these Gingers are endemic to India.

The tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have interesting usage of other species of Zingibers.

For instance, Shompen and Nicobari tribes use various plant parts of another species of Zingiber (Hornstedia fenzlii) as bee repellent and, tranquiliser.

Rhizome extracts and leaf pest are applied on body during extracting honey from honeycomb.

Ginger has a sialagogue action, stimulating the production of saliva, which makes swallowing easier.

ANSWER: Zebrafish

Explanation:
Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have found a new species of Zingiber (commonly referred as Ginger) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The species Zingiber pseudosquarrosum, new to science, belonging to genus Zingiber.

It was already used by the local Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups ( PVTGs) of the Andamans for its medicinal values.

The fresh extract [juice] of fleshy tuberous roots is used to treat abdominal pain and anti-helminthic troubles by Nicobarese and certain other tribal communities.

This pseudo stem of the new species is predominantly red in colour.

Flowers have a vermilion tinge and dehisced fruit [fully mature fruits] are lotus shaped.

Inflorescence buds are urceolate in shape.

The species has got tuberous root.

The morphological features of this species makes it distinct from other species belonging to the genus Zingiber.

Like other species of Gingers, this new species is edible and can be propagated vegetatively from the rhizome.

The planted rhizomes were successfully vegetatively propagated at the BSI garden at Port Blair after transplantation.