Luoping Small Yellow Ginger is a herbaceous plant of the *Zingiber* genus, cultivated in Luoping County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, China. It is characterized by a fine, delicate texture, high oil content, vibrant color, and a rich, aromatic fragrance. The dried ginger produced from the fresh rhizomes is renowned for its plump, dry, and starchy quality; it serves as a vital raw material for the pharmaceutical and food processing industries and has been a key export commodity for Yunnan Province since 1958. The crop is cultivated across ten townships—including Luoxiong and Jiulong—in a region defined by a plateau monsoon climate, featuring an average annual temperature of 15.1°C and annual precipitation of 1,743.9 mm.
Luoping Small Yellow Ginger contains pungent compounds such as gingerols, zingerone, shogaols, and gingerols. Notably, components like zingerone exhibit antioxidant properties in fatty foods and can inhibit the activity of the chemical DMN, thereby preventing cellular carcinogenesis. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger is considered to have a warming nature and pungent flavor, capable of dispelling wind and cold, warming the middle jiao (digestive system), and alleviating nausea. The product was included in the China Agricultural Brand Directory in 2019 and the first batch of the China-EU Geographical Indications protection list in 2020. Through the application of soil fumigation technology, the yield on plots used for continuous cropping has reached 6,108.56–6,340.75 kg per mu—double the traditional yield.
The product range includes fresh ginger and processed items such as dried ginger slices. With a perennial cultivation area exceeding 200,000 mu and an annual output of 400,000 tons, the region stands as a renowned ginger production hub in China and a core global production area for high-quality small yellow ginger; its products are exported to 43 countries and regions.
