Bioassay‐guided isolation and identification of antifungal compounds from ginger

Abstract 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 × 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.