Chemical compositions of the rhizome oils of two Alpinia species of Malaysia

Abstract

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of the rhizomes of Alpinia aquatica Rosc. syn. Alpinia melanocarpa and Alpinia malaccensis Roscoe were analysed by capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Eighteen compounds, representing 98.4% of the essential oil were identified in A. aquatica rhizome oil, with β-sesquiphellandrene in 36.5% being the major constituent, while 20 compounds representing 99.7% of the rhizome oil of A. malaccensis were identified, among which methyl (E)-cinnamate (78.2%) was the major constituent.

Keywords:

• Alpinia aquatica
• A. malaccensis
• rhizome oils
• Zingiberaceae
• β-sesquiphellandrene
• methyl (E)-cinnamate

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr Abd. Kadir A. Rahman and Mr Ayob Jabal for providing help in GC and GC/MS, respectively. We also thank FELDA and MOSTI for providing financial support and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for granting scholarship to NB and NAJ.