Aromatic Plants of French Polynesia. I. Constituents of the Essential Oils of Rhizomes of Three Zingiberaceae: Zingiber zerumbet Smith, Hedychium coronarium Koenig and Etlingera cevuga Smith

ABSTRACT

The essential oils from the rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet, Hedychium coronarium and Etlingera cevuga from Tahiti Island were studied by capillary GC and GC/MS. The oil of Z. zerumbet was found to be rich in oxygenated derivatives of α-humulene, in particular zerumbone (65.3%), while H. coronium oil contained β-pinene (24.8%) and 1, 8-cineole (40.2%) as major constituents. The oil of E. cevuga possessed a characteristic chemical composition where methyl eugenol (47.4%) and (Z)- and (E)-methyl isoeugenol (18.8%) together accounted for more than 60% of the oil.

KEY WORD INDEX:

• Essential oil
• Zingiber zerumbet
• Hedychium coronarium
• Etlingera cevuga
• Zingiberaceae
• rhizome oils
• essential oil composition
• 1, 8-cineole
• zerumbone
• methyl eugenol