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Zingiberene

Also written alpha-zingiberene, zingiberene (sesquiterpene)

SesquiterpeneC15H24Aroma

Quick answer

The sesquiterpene that smells of ginger — the aroma half of the rhizome, entirely separate from the pungency half, and the part that disappears in a long braise.

What it does

Zingiberene is the warm, woody, unmistakably gingery smell of fresh ginger, and it is a different thing from ginger’s heat. Gingerol supplies the pungency and zingiberene supplies the aroma, and the two behave so differently in cooking that a dish can have one without the other. It is also present in turmeric, which is the chemical reason turmeric smells faintly gingery — and the reason is not coincidence: they are close relatives in the same family.

Strong evidenceSources: Chemistry of Spices; On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore o…

How it behaves when cooked

Four properties of the molecule, and what they mean at the stove.

Volatility
moderate
Fat solubility
high
Water solubility
low
Heat stability
low

The split between this compound and gingerol is the single most useful thing to know about cooking with ginger. Zingiberene is volatile and heat-sensitive; gingerol is neither. So a ginger braise cooked for two hours loses its smell and keeps its warmth, which is why long-cooked ginger tastes sweet and mild rather than sharp, and why any dish that wants ginger to be identifiable needs ginger added near the end as well as at the start. Turmeric behaves the same way for the same reason: a turmeric dish cooked long keeps its colour and its bitterness — both non-volatile — and loses the earthy-gingery aroma that told you what it was.

Strong evidenceSources: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore o…; Chemistry of Spices

Spices that carry it

Recorded on the compound rather than on each spice, so the two cannot disagree.

  • GingerPrincipal component

    The aroma, as distinct from the heat that gingerol supplies.

  • TurmericContributing component

    The faintly gingery note in fresh turmeric, and a genuine family relationship rather than a coincidence of description.

Not to be confused with

Compounds a reader is likely to take for this one, and why they differ.

  • Gingerol

    The other half of ginger, and the one that behaves in the opposite way. Gingerol is non-volatile and survives long cooking; zingiberene does not. Nearly every practical rule about ginger follows from that difference.

Questions this page answers

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