On-Field Quality Assessment of Ginger (Zingiber officinale cv. Moran), Native to Assam in Northeast India

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is an important industrial crop of India. Moran is an elite quality native ginger cultivar of Assam, known for its high content of oil, oleoresin, and bioactive compounds in the rhizomes. The present study discusses a simple on-field quality evaluation of Moran ginger cultivar grown at Tinsukia District of Assam, India. In this study, quality evaluation of the green rhizomes of organically grown Moran ginger cultivar was undertaken, using low-cost and commonly available chemicals like washing soda and iodine solution at the farmer’s field location. Red colour development in the rhizome transverse sections after treatment with washing soda was observed to be more intense in case of the Moran ginger cultivar in comparison to the exotic Rio-de-Janeiro cultivar. Similarly, an intense blue colouration was observed in rhizome transverse sections of the Moran ginger cultivar post-treatment with iodine. The visual observations were further verified using the Trigit web-based Android mobile colour image processing application. Results of the on-field quality evaluation indicate a high content of flavonoids and starch in the Moran ginger rhizomes.