Molluscicidal Activity of the Essential Oil of Zingiber officinale Roscoe Rhizomes

This work evaluated the molluscicidal activity of the essential oil of the Zingiber officinale Roscoe rhizomes in with of the Biomphalaria glabrata species. The essential oil was isolated quantitatively by hydrodistillation and the oil was characterized analytically by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and the LC50 of the oil was calculated from the methods of Reed-Muench & Pizzi, respectively. From this, 18 components were identified, the main ones being A-zingiberene, geranial and nerolidol. The essential oil obtained LC50 of 56.23 mg.L-1 and mortality of the snails in the concentration of 75 mg.L-1 in 72 hours. It was concluded that this essential oil has molluscicidal activity.