Study on Essential Oils from the Leaves, Stems, Rhizomes and Fruits of Zingiber mekongense

This paper analysed the chemical compositions of essential oils from Zingiber mekongense Gagnep from Vietnam. In the analysis, essential oils hydrodistilled from the leaves, stems, rhizomes and fruits were subjected to gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The average yields of essential oils were 0.15 %, 0.10 %, 0.17 % and 0.20 (v/w) respectively, calculated on a dry weight basis. The essential oils contained large amounts of α-pinene (3.4 % - 12.9 %), β-pinene (10.0 % - 43.1 %), cis-β-elemene (11.8 % - 22.6 %) and β-caryophyllene (9.2 % - 24.1 %). The rhizome oil contained significant quantity of α-zingiberene (9.4 %) and (E)-nerolidol (5.8 %). The chemical compositions of essential oils from Z. mekongense were being reported for the first time.