Classification of Ginger Plants (Zingiber officinale Roxb.)
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Divisio: Spermatophyta
- Subdivision: Angiosperms
- Class: Monocotyledonae
- Order: Zingiberales
- Family: Zingiberaceae
- Genus: Zingiber
- Species: Zingiber officinale Roxb.
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Other names for Zingiber officinale Roxb in the regions:halia (Aceh); beuing (Gayo); bahing (Batak karo); pege (Toba); sipode (Mandailing); lahia (Nias); alia, jae (Malay); sipadeh, sipodeh (Minangkabau); pege (Lubu); jahi (Lampung); ginger (Sundanese); jae (Java); jhai (Madura); jae (Kangean); lai (Dayak); jae (Bali); reja (Bima); alia (Sumba); lea (Flores); luya (Mongon-dow); moyuman (Ponos); melito (Gorontalo); yuyo (Buol); kuya (Baree); laia (Makassar); pese (Bugis); hairalo (Aimahai); pusu, seeia, sehi (Ambon); sehi (Hila); sehil (Nusa Laut); siwei (Buru); geraka (Ternate); gora (Tidore); other (Aru); leya (Alfuru); lali (Papua-Kalana fat); manman (Papua (Kapaur). Ginger (English); shengjiang (China), gung, sinh khuong, can khuong, co kinh (Thai) |
Zingiber officinale Roxb Description
The general characteristic of the ginger plant is that it grows in clumps. Pseudo stem, unbranched, round, upright, composed of leaf midrib, pale green color with reddish stem base, up to 1 m high.
Single leaf, consisting of upih and leaf blade, upih leaf attached to wrap around the stem, leaf blade grows alternately, thin lanceolate leaf blade, dark green, leaf bones are clearly arranged parallel, tapered leaf tip, and rounded base. Compound interest, consisting of a collection of flowers in the shape of small cones, yellowish white petals.
The fruit is elliptic like a capsule with 3 seed chambers, each of which has 7 ovules. Small seeds, black, webbed. The rhizome is branched, the skin is in the form of scales arranged in a circle and booklets, brown yellow to red depending on the type, the flesh is bright yellow, fibrous, aromatic and is a change in the shape of the stems found in the soil. Ginger rhizome has a very specific smell.
Ginger Growing Requirements
Ginger is mainly cultivated in tropical areas with altitudes between 0-1,700 m above sea level. Ginger plants require high temperatures and sufficient rainfall during their growing period. The desired soil temperature is between 25-30°C.
The rainfall required is between 2,500-4,000 mm in a year. To get good rhizome results, the soil must be crumbly and light so that it allows the roots to develop normally.
This plant does not withstand standing water, so its drainage must always be considered. Environmental Cipanas grows with a height of + 600 m above sea level, rainfed rice fields, sandy clay texture, a slope of 0-10% and Cipicung in a growing environment with a height of + 800 m above sea level, dry land, sandy dust soil texture, slope of 10- 20% (Sukarman et al, 2008).
Red ginger plants can grow in acid soils at pH 5-6. Red ginger plants have the highest number of plants per clump in acid soils pH 5, namely 3-4 stems.
The lowest water content of rhizomes with soil treatment pH 5 was 84.43%, while the control had lower water content, namely 80.44%. The highest content of essential oils was found in rhizomes that grew in soil pH 6, namely 3.5% aged 7 months, but the essential oil content of rhizomes that grow in soil pH 5, which is 9 months old, 3.27% (Panggabean, 1993).
During the experiment, the driest months were carried out during the dry season, July to October. In these months the rainfall is 18-88 mm. Rainy days 1-4 days and the temperature in the soil is 36-38 oC. The ginger rhizome is planted in May and begins to grow 10 weeks after planting.
It started raining in November. At that time, the ginger that started to grow was red ginger and then emprit ginger. Meanwhile, ginger emprit begins to grow 14 weeks after planting. The highest number of plants per clump was found in red ginger and then emprit ginger.
The lowest number of plants per clump in elephant ginger. Plants from these types of ginger that are 20 weeks old begin to increase in number of plants per clump. In plants that are 28 weeks old the number of plants per clump increases rapidly. The number of plants per clump continued to increase until finally the harvest was 9 months (Panggabean, 1992).
Ginger Cultivation
Land Preparation for Zingiber officinale Roxb
The application of organic matter in ginger cultivation plays an important role in increasing yield and improving the quality of the rhizomes, especially in large ginger clones. Plant growth and yield of high and pithy rhizomes are obtained from plants cultivated in thick humid mineral soils even without fertilization.
Applying adequate manure also gives the same results. The application of organic matter causes the soil to become fertile and loose, making it suitable for the growth of ginger plants.
Utilization of organic matter as a substitute for part or all of manure can save Rp. 2-2.5 million / ha. These savings come from, among others, the reduction in the cost of manure and N, P. and K fertilizers, as well as the cost of weeding when green manure is applied as mulch. These efforts can simultaneously produce organic agricultural products whose demand tends to increase globally (Sudiarto and Gusmaini, 2004).
Preparation of Seeds
Ginger plant propagation is still done using the rhizome. For seed material, rhizomes from plants that are quite old should be used, which are between 9-12 months old.
Materials derived from rhizomes that are not old enough will produce ginger plants that are susceptible to bacteria and fungi. This plant rarely reaches the harvest age above 6 months. The ginger rhizome that the seeds will make is cut into pieces. Rhizome size for seedlings is between 50-80 g.
The seeds were soaked in 0.1% agrimycin solution for 4 hours and then aerated. To keep the cut marks from rotting, rubbing ash is sprinkled on them.
Furthermore, the rhizomes are sprouted for 1-3 weeks on rice straw pile media. Straw media regularly watered every day and do not let it dry. Ginger seeds can also be sprouted by covering them with thin soil and covering them with straw, coconut leaves, or dry litter.
Planting Ginger
The cut rhizome that has sprouted is inserted into the prepared planting hole with the bud facing upwards and then covered with fine soil. After that the surface of the beds is covered with straw mulch so that weed growth is inhibited and the soil surface is maintained moisture.
Nowadays many farmers grow ginger in baskets. The use of pots in baskets is intended to keep the soil medium in a nest and loose state.
- Sieve the soil with a soil sieve to make the soil grain condition with a uniform size of granules on the side to clean the soil from the remaining weeds and other impurities.
- Mix top soil with compost, with a ratio of 2: 1 (2 parts compost and 1 part top soil). Apart from compost, you can also use other organic materials such as cow manure and so on.
- If the soil has a pH that is too low, first calcification using agricultural lime, incubation for 2 weeks is used for the media.
- First, fill the basket with ¼ of the media mixture, then place the ginger seeds and cover with 15 cm of soil mixture.
- Then place the basket in the open, by first giving the bricks to the bottom of the basket, so that the water flow in the basket is smooth.
- The basket is not fully filled, the addition of planting media is done every 4 weeks. This condition is maintained until harvest time. The next maintenance follows the planting system in the field.
In general, red ginger plants are more resistant to dry seasons than emprit ginger and elephant ginger. The highest dry weight of rhizomes is found in red ginger.
Likewise, the highest content of essential oils in the rhizome that is 5 months old is found in red ginger (Panggabean, 1992). The results showed that the addition of NAA affected the growth and development of explants.
The addition of NAA tended to increase the number of plantlet roots, number of leaves, and affect shoot length (plantlet height). Giving NAA 2.5 mg / l in MS media is the best concentration to influence the growth and development of red ginger explants in vitro (Laurensius, 2010).
Maintenance Zingiber officinale Roxb
Fertilization
In general, the dosage of inorganic fertilizers that must be given to increase the growth and yield of ginger are: SP-36 300-400 kg / ha and KCl 300-400 kg / ha, given at planting time. Urea fertilizer is given 3 times at the age of 1, 2 and 3 months after planting as much as 400-600 kg / ha, each 1/3 the dose per administration. (Rostiana et al., 2005).
The results of the research by Trisilawati et al. (2003) showed that giving 500 arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi spores could increase the fresh and dry weight of large white ginger by 32.6% and 54.65%, the weight of fresh red ginger was 41.9% and small white ginger was 137.56. %. Provision of bio fertilizers can increase rhizome P nutrient uptake by 68.7%.
The provision of 45 g NPK / 15 kg of soil with 225 peat compost plus / 15 kg of soil tended to increase the growth and production of red ginger (Table 1). This can be seen from the dry weight of the red ginger plant of 87.20 g.
The application of 45 g NPK / 15 kg of soil tended to increase compared to that of other doses of NPK / 15 kg of soil. This can be seen from the increase in dry rhizome weight from
Table 1. Dried rhizome weight (g / 15 kg of soil) red ginger with peat compost Plus and NPK treatment
|
Dosage of NPK Fertilizer (g / 15 kg of soil) |
Peat compost plus (g / 15 kg soil) |
NPK fertilizer |
|
|
112.5 |
225 |
||
|
Without NPK |
23.85 ab |
18.78 a |
21.32 a |
|
15 |
38.91 abc |
47.31 bc |
43.11 b |
|
30 |
55.14 cd |
48.61 bc |
51.87 b |
|
45 |
74.36 de |
87.20 e |
80.78 c |
|
Peat Compost plus |
48.06 a |
50.48 a |
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Note: Numbers followed by different lowercase letters in rows and columns are significantly different according to DNMRT 5%. Source: Julia (Z. officinale Roxb 2008)
21.32 g to 80.78 g. The application of peat plus compost tends to increase the growth and production of red ginger plants (Julia, 2008). Application of chicken manure gave the best results in wet rhizome weight (146.69 g), dry rhizome weight (48.21 g) and harvest index (77.98%) compared to straw, bokashi and solid compost (Table 2.)
Table 2. Effect of organic fertilizers on wet rhizome weight per clump (g), dry rhizome weight per clump (g), and harvest index (%)
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Treatment |
Wet
Rhizome Weight per Clump (g) |
Weight
of Dry Rhizome per Clump (g) |
Harvest
index (%) |
|
P1: Chicken Cage Fertilizer |
146.69 a |
48.21 a |
77.98 |
|
P2: Straw Compost Fertilizer |
100.27 ab |
31.51 b |
77.09 |
|
P3: Bokashi Fertilizer |
76.65 b |
24.72 b |
76.09 |
|
P4: Solid |
83.36 b |
27.16 b |
71.47 |
Note: Numbers followed by the same letter in rows and columns are not significantly different according to DNMRT at the level of 5%. Source: Patmawati (2007).
Weeding Z. officinale
Weeding should be done manually by pulling out weeds carefully so as not to damage the roots of the ginger. When the plant has reached 6-7 months, weeding does not need to be done because it can disturb the ginger plant. Along with weeding, the soil surface around the clump should be buried so that the rhizomes do not come out of the soil surface. The filling is done once a month.
Pests and Diseases Z. officinale
Rhizome flies are the primary pests that attack 5 month old ginger plants. Plants that are attacked show symptoms of wilting and dryness, while the skin of the rhizomes is damaged.
Prevention of pest attacks is carried out by treating seeds, namely by selecting healthy seeds and treating seeds with agrimycin. The disease that often attacks ginger is a wilt disease caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas solanacearum.
This disease attacks the rhizome and the growing point of the plant. Plants affected by this disease show symptoms of wilting and yellowing of the leaves. Plants are also easy to rot and slimy. This disease is easily transmitted to other plants so that plants affected by this disease should be removed and burned immediately.
Harvest and Post Harvest
Ginger harvest time is determined by the purpose for which it is used. If the root rhizome is used for sweets, in this case the ginger must be harvested before the rhizome becomes fibrous. A fiber percentage between 30-45% is usually desirable for candied ginger purposes. This harvest is called the young ginger harvest.
Harvesting is done on plants aged 4-5 months. For other purposes, ginger plants can be harvested after 9 months or so. Through the harvest time, the rhizome will lose weight in addition to its poor quality.
This harvest is called the old ginger harvest. Harvesting ginger is done by pulling the plant by hand, then removing the top of the plant. The remaining soil attached to the rhizomes is cleaned before the results of the rhizomes are collected together. To clean, the rhizomes can be soaked in water or sprayed with a high enough pressure.
If you must brush it should be used a soft brush. Furthermore, the rhizome is drained in a bamboo container and dried. For the manufacture of simplicia, the rhizome is cut lengthwise with a thickness of 7 mm and then dried.
Drying can be done by drying in the sun or with an artificial dryer. When using an artificial dryer, the temperature is adjusted so that it does not exceed 50°C.
Seed / rhizome moisture content did not differ between seeds produced in Cipanas and in Cipicung, however, seed / rhizome moisture content and seed / rhizome weight loss decreased with 3 months of storage treatment.
Although 3 months of storage can reduce moisture content and shrinkage of rhizome weight, the germination of seeds is still high and qualifies as seeds. The highest seed / rhizome weight shrinkage was found in JM ranging from 53.32-54.63%, but the germination capacity was still high, namely 86.67% -89.33% (Sukarman et al., 2008).
The treatment temperature of 50oC and drying time of 4 hours gave the best results on the quality of the resulting dried ginger candy which met SNI 01-04443-1998. The water content obtained in the treatment was 37.499%, total solids 62.501%, ash content was 2.756% and sucrose content was 36.133%.
The combination of the treatment temperature of 50°C and drying time of 4 hours was organoleptically also favored by the panelists, where the color of the dried ginger candy was yellowish brown, the distinctive aroma of ginger still smelled, the taste was balanced between sweet and spicy and the resulting texture was soft and slightly hard (Widiastuti, 2008).