Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol

Myoga, myoga ginger or Japanese ginger () is the species ''Zingiber mioga'' in the family

Zingiberaceae Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical Af ...

. It is a deciduous herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

native to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, and the southern part of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Cole TCH, Nürnberger
"Zingiber mioga and its Cultivars,"
''The Plantsman. Royal Horticultural Society.'' December 2014, 4: 226-229. Only its edible flower buds and flavorful shoots are used in cooking. The flower buds are finely shredded and used in

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan ( Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and oth ...

as a garnish for ''

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and ''kōji'' (the fungus '' Aspergillus oryzae'') and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and ...

'' soup, ''

sunomono is a Japanese dish consisting of thinly sliced uncooked (''nama'') vegetables and seafood, marinated in rice vinegar (''su'') for several hours, pickling them slightly. ''Namasu'' was brought to Japan from China during the Nara period (710 ...

'', and dishes such as roasted eggplant. In

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...

, the flower buds are skewered alternately with pieces of meat and then are pan-fried.

Cultivation

A traditional crop in Japan, myoga ginger has been introduced to cultivation in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

for export to the Japanese market. As a woodland plant, myoga has specific shade requirements for its growth. It is frost-tolerant to , and possibly colder. Three variegated

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s are known: 'Dancing Crane', 'Silver Arrow' and 'White Feather'. They are less cold-hardy than un

variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the ...

plants.

Medicinal properties

Some constituents of myoga are

cytotoxic Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating c ...

; others have shown promise for potentially

anticarcinogenic An anticarcinogen (also known as a carcinopreventive agent) is a substance that counteracts the effects of a carcinogen or inhibits the development of cancer. Anticarcinogens are different from anticarcinoma agents (also known as anticancer or ant ...

properties.Ha Won Kim ''et al.''
"Suppressive Effects of Mioga Ginger and Ginger Constituents on Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species Generation, and the Expression of Inducible Pro-Inflammatory Genes in Macrophages,"
''Antioxidants & Redox Signaling.'' November/December 2005, 7(11-12): 1621-1629; retrieved 2013-8-4.

Gallery

File:Zingiber mioga.jpg, Plants File:R0016749.JPG, Fruits with red interiors and black seeds with a whitish

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

File:Three-myoga-inapack-aug2-2015.jpg, Buds prepared for sale

References

External links

"Myoga" at 4seasonseeds.com.au
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1196818 Inflorescence vegetables Japanese cuisine Japanese vegetables Stem vegetables Zingiber Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Korea