Physicochemical characterization of medicinal essential oil made obtained from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale (ginger), grown in San Carlos, Costa Rica, in order to standardize future hydroponic cultivations of the plant

Introduction: Ginger is a medicinal plant native to India. Has been reported their potential use in cosmetics, medicines and natural products, however depending on crop conditions the medicinal components of the different parts of the plant not only changes in concentration but in its composition, this modifies its medicinal action. The aim of this study was to characterize by physicochemical methods 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. Materials and methods: 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). Results and Conclusions. The presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, tannins and triterpenes in the ethanolic extract was qualitatively determined. In characterizing the essential oil by GC-MS were identified as lead compounds the geranialdehyde (27.42%), neral (20.11%), 1.8-cineole (13.35%), camphene (4.65%) and E-geraniol (3.92%). The composition obtained was compared with the composition reported in the literature, obtaining a clear difference with those reported in other studies, allowing predicting an antimicrobial behavior unlike most traditional essential oils of the rhizomes.