Gingerols

Gingerols is a class of phenolic phytochemical compounds that are naturally occurring in ginger. The compounds have a unique property in which they activate the heat receptors on the tongue. The compounds are often found as a pungent yellow oil in the ginger rhizome but can also form a low-melting crystalline solid. They are found in all members of the Zingiberaceae family; however, concentrations of the compound will differ by variety.

Gingerols experience a reverse aldol reaction during cooking, resulting in zingerone. Zingerone has a less pungent and sweater aroma. Another common reaction that these aromatic ginger compounds experience occurs during drying at low temperature, where through a dehydration, they are converted to their shogoal analogs. Gingerols are about half as pungent as shogoals.

The major compounds in this class that are contained in ginger root are 6, 8, and 10, however 12-gingerol is also present, but at lower concentrations.