The underground rhizome of Zingiber officinale gives ginger, the pungent spice at home in sweet and savoury cooking worldwide. Its heat comes from gingerols, which convert to the sharper shogaols on drying, and its aroma from volatile oils led by zingiberene. Bakers grate it into gingerbread and biscuits, brewers ferment it into ginger beer, and Asian cuisines treat it as a foundational aromatic. Processors sell it fresh, dried, ground, candied and juiced, each form with its own flavour balance and shelf life.