Characterization of volatile components from ginger plant at maturity and its value addition to ice cream.

Ginger is widely consumed spice across the
globe and especially in Asian countries routinely employed
in various culinary preparations. Ginger possesses many
distinct bioactive molecules, have shown marked therapeutic benefits. The ginger aroma is mainly due to the
volatile compounds present in the rhizome. The current
paper focuses on comparison of volatile constituents present in different plant parts of ginger concerning maturity
and effect of incorporation of freeze-dried ginger extract
into ice cream. Fresh ginger was collected for 5 months
(every 30 days) and analysed for their differences in
volatile composition with respect to maturity. Later ginger
juice was extracted from fresh ginger and freeze-dried.
Freeze-dried ginger powder was incorporated into icecream at various concentrations and studied the microbiological and sensory quality. Results from GC–MS profiles
revealed the dominance of sesquiterpenes. Zingiberene a
major volatile compound, increased from 2.52 to 18.15%
with an increase in maturity days, whereas ar-curcumin
decreased from 12.58 to 3.84%. The freeze-dried ginger
powder yielded 10.2 ± 0.1% of oleoresin, which consists
of 3.6 ± 0.2% of 6-gingerol. The value added ice cream
with gingerols had the desirable sensory attributes with the
novelty of natural ginger flavour. Icecream was pleasant,
with attractive visual appeal, which is an essential determinant for consumer acceptance. The microbial quality of
the ice cream was compared with the FSSAI standards, and
the study was found to be within acceptable limits.