Essential oil composition of Hedychium species from India Raina Archana P.1,*, Misra R.C.2 1Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi-110012, India 2ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Exploration Base Centre, Cuttack-753006, Odisha, India *Corresponding author e-mail: aprraina@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 20 June, 2022. Abstract The genus Hedychium (Zingiberaceae), popularly known as ginger lily is widely distributed in China, India, and Southeast Asia. Hedychium species are widely used in fragrance, paper, ornamental, cosmetics, medicine, and food. The extracts and essential oils of Hedychium have been reported to have multiple bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, anti acetylcholinesterase, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, analgesic, hepatoprotective, and insecticidal activities. In the present study, three Hedychium species viz; H. coronarium, H. flavescens and H. coccineum augmented from natural habitats of Eastern India have been investigated for essential oil composition by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC/FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A comparison of essential oil profile showed major volatile constituents present in H. coronarium were 1,8-cineole (47.73%), β-pinene (20.83%), α-terpineol (8.38%) and terpinene-4-ol (5.09%); while H. flavescens essential oil showed linalool (25.76%), β-pinene (19.29%), p-cymene (12.52%), 1,8-cineole (10.71%), α-pinene (7.02%) and terpinene-4-ol (3.88%). In contrast, the major essential oil components of H. coccineum, a lesser known species, were (E)-nerolidol (40.20%) and caryophyllene oxide (24.76%). Present studies identified characteristic distinct chemical markers present among these Hedychium species. Top Keywords Hedychium coronorium, Hedychium coccineum, Hedychium flavescens, Zingiberaceae, Essential oil composition. Top |