Effect of Zingiber officinale (ginger) on human haemostatic parameters

Abstract

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a widely used food spice in many countries. It has been used for treating several health conditions in traditional Chinese medicine. Several literatures have outlined the antiplatelet activity of ginger (Zingiber officinale) with little scientific data to support this claim. This study was carried out to determine the effect of ginger on human haemostatic parameters. Prothrombin Time (PT), Partial Thromboplastin Time with Kaolin (PTTK), platelet count and whole blood clotting time were carried out on eighty samples with ginger extract as test sample, while thirty samples without ginger extract as control samples. It was observed that only the PT and PTTK were significantly affected (p < 0.001). While the platelet count and whole blood clotting time were not statistically affected (p > 0.05) by the addition of ginger extract.