Physicochemical characterization of medicinal essential oil from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale (ginger), grown in San Carlos, Costa Rica

Abstract

Abstract: Ginger is a medicinal plant native to India. Their potential use in cosmetics, medicines and natural products has been reported, however depending on crop conditions, the medicinal components of the different parts of the plant may not only go through changes in concentration but in composition, what modifies its medicinal potential. The aim of this study was to characterize by the chemical composition of essential oil obtained from rhizomes of Zingiber officinale grown in the area of San Carlos, Costa Rica, in order to standardize future hydroponic cultivations of the plant and validate their subsequent pharmacological or cosmetic effects. The rhizomes of the plant were used, the active principles were extracted by ethanolic extraction with Soxleth and distillation by entrainment with vapor, analysis was performed by using a qualitative phytochemical profile for the ethanolic extract, and the composition of the essential oil was studied by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry detector (GC-MS). The presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, tannins and triterpenes in the ethanolic extract was qualitatively determined. In characterizing the essential oil by GC-MS we identified as lead compounds geranialdehyde (27.42%), neral (20.11%), 1.8-cineole (13.35%), camphene (4.65%) and E-geraniol (3.92%). The composition we obtained presented a clear difference with those reported in other studies, allowing the prediction of an antimicrobial behavior unlike most traditional essential oils of the rhizomes.