Consumption of ginger (Zingiber officinale roscoe) does not affect ex vivo platelet thromboxane production in humans

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe) has been claimed to exert an anti-thrombotic effect in humans as ginger extracts inhibit cyclo-oxygenase activity of platelets in vitro. Effects of ginger consumption on ex vivo platelet function, however, are contradictory. We therefore investigated whether daily consumption of raw or cooked ginger decreases platelet cyclo-oxygenase activity as assessed by ex vivo maximally stimulated platelet thromboxane B2 production.

We carried out a randomized placebo-controlled cross-over study of 3 x 2 weeks.

Eighteen healthy volunteers aged 22 +/- 3 y (mean +/- s.d.) participated in the study; there were no dropouts.

Subjects consumed 15 g of raw ginger root, 40 g of cooked stem ginger, or placebo daily for two weeks. We took fasted venous blood samples and measured thromboxane B2 production in maximally stimulated platelet-rich plasma at days 12 and 14 of each treatment period.

Mean decrease in thromboxane production relative to placebo was 1 +/- 9% for ginger root, and -1 +/- 8% for stem ginger, with no effect of treatment order (P = 0.984).

We cannot confirm the putative anti-thrombotic activity of ginger in humans.