COMPARATIVE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY FRESH & DRY GINGER OILS (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROSCOE)

Abstract

The volatile oils from fresh and dried ginger rhizomes ( Nedumangadu variety) (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) were analysed by GC and GC‐MS. Zingiberene was the major compound in both ginger oils. Fresh ginger oil contained geranial (8.5%) as the second main compound and had more oxygenated compounds (29.2%) compared to dry ginger oil (14.4%). The dry ginger oil also contained ar‐curcumene (11%), β‐bisabolene (7.2%), sesquiphellandrene (6.6%) and δ‐cadinene (3.5%). Antimicrobial activity of the oils against Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Trichoderma spp, Aspergillus niger, Pencillium spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was assessed by disc diffusion method and results obtained are comparable with the reference compounds. The MIC values of the oils ranged from 10μg/mL to 1 μg/mL which is very significant. The study shows a wide application of ginger oil in the treatment of many bacterial and fungal diseases