Improving ginger’s bioactive composition by combining innovative drying and extraction technologies

Abstract

Abstract Ginger is known for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Its bioactive compounds can benefit foods and active packaging formulations by extending shelf life, enhancing safety, and providing health benefits to consumers. In ginger, sesquiterpenes and phenolic compounds are the main bioactives, and drying and extraction processes directly affect them. This influence can have desirable or undesirable effects on the composition, activity, and concentration. So, it is crucial to carefully define these operations to avoid losses and enable selective extraction, resulting in tailored compositions without requiring additional steps. Considering this a field to explore, the effects of combined emergent drying and extraction technologies on ginger were investigated. Vacuum microwave drying (VMD), ultrasound (UAE) (20 or 80 oC), and microwave extraction (ME) were evaluated. Drying kinetics, powder color, extract composition, and antioxidant activity were studied. While ME demonstrated high efficiency in preserving the original compounds of fresh ginger, VMD combined with UAE (20°C) produced extracts with the highest concentration of phenolic compounds (387.6 mg.GAE/g) and antioxidant activity (2100.7 mmol.Trolox/mL) and had a low impact in the main sesquiterpenes. VMD generated shogaols by its controlled high temperatures and facilitated extracting bioactives by destroying cellular structures and forming pores. UAE extracted these compounds selectively, released them from cell structures, and reduced losses caused by volatilization and thermal degradation compared to conventional methods. These findings have significant implications, as they provide an opportunity to obtain ginger extracts with tailored compositions that can enhance the formulation of food products, active food packaging, and health-related products.