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Physicochemical properties, chemical composition and sensory attributes of Alpinia nigra (Gaertn.) B.L. Burtt rhizome: an underutilized spice source

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Abstract

Spices enhance the palatability of the food. Plant-derived natural spices are preferred over artificial ones by both commercial and consumer sectors. Despite its wide use in traditional cuisine and medicament, Alpinia nigra lacks a well-deserved platform in the global spice market. The current study aimed a comparative investigation between rhizomes of A. nigra (AR) and ginger (GR) through physicochemical characteristics, sensory attributes, oleochemical profiling and in silico α-amylase inhibitory activity. AR exhibited lesser moisture content (87.81 ± 0.35%), water activity (0.56 ± 0.01 aw), rehydration capacity (3.00 ± 0.19) and comparable organoleptic attributes against ginger. Both the rhizome powders showed a color difference value of 12.02 ± 0.04 due to the significant differences in the color parameters (L*, a*, b*). The FTIR spectra displayed corresponding banding patterns for O–H, C–H and C=C bond stretching at 3200–3400 cm−1, 2921–2924 cm−1 and 1634 cm−1, respectively. The SEM micrographs showed a similar fibrous structure of varying sizes, 40–100 µm. Hydro-distillation of AR yielded 0.02% of essential oil which showed the presence of Bornyl acetate (24.29%), Borneol (17.6%) and β-Caryophyllene (12.59%) as the major oleochemicals when subjected to GC–MS. The descriptive sensory analysis of AR essential oil identified camphoraceous as the key aroma attributes with spicy, pine and woody notes. Molecular docking revealed the potential of β-Guaiene (binding energy − 7.5 kcal/mol) to develop a possible dietary supplement against diabetes. The study is an initial attempt to unravel the fundamental potential of A. nigra as an alternative spice and dietary supplement.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analysed during the current study are incorporated in this published manuscript (and its supplementary files).

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Acknowledgements

Jadumoni Saikia, Nooreen Washmin, Twinkle Borah, Prasanna Sarmah, and Parthapratim Konwar acknowledge the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad–201002, India for providing the opportunity and platform to carry out the work. All the authors acknowledge Director, CSIR-NEIST for the logistics and moral support.

Funding

This work was supported by the CSIR FBR project (MLP0041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agrotechnology and Rural Development Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, 785006, India

    Jadumoni Saikia, Nooreen Washmin, Twinkle Borah, Prasanna Sarmah, Parthapratim Konwar, Appu Siga, Saikat Haldar & Dipanwita Banik

  2. AcSIR - Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Jadumoni Saikia, Nooreen Washmin, Twinkle Borah, Prasanna Sarmah, Parthapratim Konwar, Saikat Haldar & Dipanwita Banik

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Contributions

JS: sample collection, data curation, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft. NW and TB: methodology, formal analysis, software, visualization, and writing—original draft. PS and PK: methodology, software, and visualization. AS: formal analysis and writing—review and editing. SH: methodology and formal analysis. DB: conceptualization, methodology, supervision, validation, funding acquisition, and writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Dipanwita Banik.

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Saikia, J., Washmin, N., Borah, T. et al. Physicochemical properties, chemical composition and sensory attributes of Alpinia nigra (Gaertn.) B.L. Burtt rhizome: an underutilized spice source. Eur Food Res Technol 249, 1097–1112 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-023-04200-5

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