Abstract: Ginger( Zingiber officinale Rosc) is the dried rhizome of Zingiberaceae plant.Native to Southeast Asia and China,it is mainly distributed in the central,southern parts of and Sichuan Province of China.Early pharmacological practice has confirmed that ginger exerts the effect of expelling cold,and stopping cough and vomiting. And modern science has further confirmed its functions such as anti- aging,reducing blood fat,promoting blood circulation,anti- inflammation and antisepsis.Meanwhile,it has being used in food and cosmetic industry for a long time. In this mini- review paper,main active ingredients in ginger such as essential oil,gingerols and diarylheptanoids and their extraction methods such as molecular distillation,steam distillation,solvent extraction,expression and supercritical CO2 extraction,and the application of these ingredients in food,pharmaceutical and cosmetic,had been summarized. The prospective on development and application of ginger active ingredient extraction technology had been also envisioned.Furthermore,suggestions on effective extraction and application of active ingredients from ginger had been posed as follows: research to select the most anti- microbial compound or monomer in ginger active ingredients should be first carried out as an important task. Then,analysis method with high accuracy and technology of extraction and purification for ginger active ingredients should be exploited intensively.