Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Ginger Essential Oil from Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract The chemical composition of essential oils obtained by water and steam distillation of ginger from Vietnam was investigated. The yield of the essential oils was 2.05% and 2.1%, respectively. The main components of the essential oil obtained by water distillation were ar-cucumene (11.7 %) and β-bisabolene (4.1 %), and of the essential oil obtained by steam distillation were ar-curcumene (12.6 %), α-zingiberene (10.3 %), β-bisabolene (8.1 %) and β-sesquiphellandrene (7.4 %). The antimicrobial effect of both essential oils from ginger was studied according to the agar diffusion cup method. The test microorganisms used were the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus; Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella abony; the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans and the fungi Penicillium sp., Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus nigricans. The essential oil had a weak effect on the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and had a substantial fungicidal effect on the fungi under study.