Abstract

Background: Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) is a spice widely used and has been suggested to act beneficially on salivary secretion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ingestion of a ginger infusionin the salivary flow rate of smokers with reduced salivary secretion.
Subjects and Methods: After review board and Ethic Committee of the State approval, sixteen smokers with reduced salivary flow were assigned in an auto-controlled study. The intervention consisted in the ingestion of a 250 mL ginger infusion with 0.5 g, three times a day for 28 days. Non-stimulated (Qns) and stimulated (Qss) saliva collection was performed by sialometry before and after the ingestion of the ginger infusion.A survey was used to collect age and smoking habits information. Chemical analysis was performed, in the ginger infusion, to quantify the total phenolic content (TFC) by Folin Ciocalteu method and antioxidant activity (AA) by ABTS^•+ and O₂^•− methods. The paired samples t-Student’s test and Spearman's correlation coefficient were used, at a significance level of 5%.
Results: A statistically significant increase (p<0,001), was found in Qns (0.12±0.05 and 0.24±0.05 mL/ min) and Qss (0.69±0.18 and 0.90±0.18 mL/min) before and after ginger infusion ingestion, respectively. The results revealed a negative correlation between Qns and age (ρ = −0.67; p = 0.003) and also between the amount of saliva (Qns and Qss) and smoking habits (Qns, ρ = −0.71, p = 0.001; Qss, ρ = −0.61, p = 0.010). Chemical analysis revealed a large quantity of TFC (1.02±0.03 mg/gGAE) and a high AA (115.83±1.91 μmolTrolox/g and 62.76±1.06 % O₂^•− inhibition) in the ginger infusion.
Conclusion: There is a significant increase in salivary flow rate of smokers after the ingestion of 0.5g of ginger infusion three times a day for 28 days. The age of the subjects and the time of smoking are correlated with the reduction of salivary flow rate. Ginger infusion exhibited a high level of TFC and AA.