Anti-Parasitic Activity of Zingiber officinale (Ginger): A Brief Review

Zingiber officinale (Z. officinale) is a perennial herb with several medicinal properties. Development of modern drugs from Z. officinale can be emphasized for the control of various diseases. The feasibility of using Z. officinale to treat parasite infections has received considerable interest nowadays. Therefore, this review focused on the anti-parasitic activity of Z. officinale. Method of this literature search was conducted on PubMed, Elsevier Scopus database and Google Scholar with no limitation on language or year of publication databases. Z. officinale was found to have a significant antihelmintic activity against Schistosoma mansoni, Toxocara canis, Dirofilaria immitis, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Aniskis simplex, Hymenolepis nana and hydatid cysts either in vitro or in vivo. Also, it has an anti-protozoal effect against Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia lamblia, Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Blastocystis species. Additionally, it was found to have insecticidal, molluscicidal and anti-leech effects