Ginger officinale is the fresh rhizome of Zingiberaceae perennial herb, which is rich in spicy and aromatic components. It can be used as both medicine and food, and has high nutritional value and medicinal value.
Ginger is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, but its origin is still inconclusive. It is generally believed that it originated in China or India, and then went to the world from these two places.
The earliest ginger in Australia was brought to Australia by China settlers at the beginning of19th century. Later, China people continued the cooking and medicinal tradition of ginger in Australia.
The commercial cultivation of Australian ginger began in Budrem, southeast Queensland in the1940s. The subtropical rainforest environment and fertile soil there provide ideal conditions for the fresh and processing market of 8,000 tons of ginger in Australia every year, and southeastern Queensland has also become the main producing area of ginger in Australia.
Although other parts of Australia are also suitable for growing ginger, the production of ginger in Australia has been mainly confined to a small area in southeastern Queensland.
In order to meet the demand, although most Australian ginger farmers are planting and harvesting ginger all the year round, the annual ginger output is uneven, and there are mainly two harvest seasons: one is the early harvest season in February and March, when the rhizome is smaller, the spicy taste is lighter and the fiber content is the least (actually fresh ginger or tender ginger).
The other is the late harvest season in June and August, when the rhizome is larger, the fiber is more, and the taste is spicy (that is, ginger, ginger or spicy).
Although there are gains at other times, the output is very small.