Comparative LC-MS Chemical Fingerprinting, Antioxidant Potential, and in Silico Analysis of Anti-Emetic and Pain Modulation Activity of dry and Fresh White Ginger Extracts

Objective Ginger ( Zingiber officinale ) is well known for its therapeutic properties, particularly its anti-emetic effects and pain modulation potential. The research on nausea and pain modulation has primarily focused on ginger and shogaols. The potential role of other nonvolatile secondary metabolites in these activities remains largely unexplored. This study aims to comprehensively characterize secondary metabolites in fresh and oven-dried ginger using LC-MS and evaluate the pharmacological potential of identified compounds in nausea and pain modulation. Method Fresh and dried ginger rhizomes were extracted using multiple solvent systems (methanol, aqueous methanol, water, hexane, and acetone. The extracts were analyzed for phenolic content by the Folin & Ciocalteau method and antioxidant potential by β-carotene-linoleic assay. A comprehensive chemical fingerprint of all the extracts was generated using LC-MS. Compounds with favorable ADME profiles were subjected to molecular docking to evaluate their binding interactions with 5HT3 (5-hydroxy tryptamine Type 3 receptor) and TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) receptors. Results LC-MS fingerprinting identified 61 bioactive compounds in a single run and highlighted distinct variations in compound distribution between fresh and oven-dried ginger extracts. Methanol was the most suitable solvent for the extraction of secondary metabolites, and the drying process showed a significant increase in shogaols content with relatively higher antioxidant activity. Diarylheptanoids, a relatively underexplored class of ginger secondary metabolites, exhibited strong binding affinity to 5HT3 and TRPV1 receptors, surpassing that of commonly studied gingerols and shogaols, suggesting their potential role in ginger's therapeutic effects. Conclusion The study presents a comprehensive LC-MS fingerprinting of fresh and oven-dried extracts of Zingiber officinale rhizome. Oven-dried ginger extracts showed significantly higher phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and levels of shogaols and diarylheptanoids. Several diaryl heptanoids demonstrated strong in silico binding to 5HT3 and TRPV1 receptors, suggesting that, these metabolites may contribute meaningfully to ginger's anti-emetic and analgesic potential.