Bioassay-guided isolation and identification of antifungal compounds from ginger.

A bioassay-guided isolation of antifungal compounds from an African land race of ginger, Zingiber officinale Roscoe, led to the identification of [6], [8] and [10]-gingerols and [6]-gingerdiol as the main antifungal principles. The compounds were active against 13 human pathogens at concentrations of <1 mg/mL. The gingerol content of the African land race was at least 3 x higher than that of typical commercial cultivars of ginger. Therefore, ginger extracts standardized on the basis of the identified compounds, could be considered as antifungal agents for practical therapy. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.