| Chemical Properties | Ginger oil and ginger oleoresin are produced from the ginger plant Zingiber
officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae).
Ginger oil is produced by steamdistillation of dried, ground rhizomes. It is a light
yellow to yellow liquid with the aromatic, persistent odor of ginger, but lacking the
pungency usually associated with ginger.The citrus note of ginger oil is produced
by citral.
d2525 0.871–0.882; n20D 1.4880–1.4940; α20D ?45 ° to ?28 °; saponification number:
max. 20; soluble in ethanol, solutions are usually turbid.
The major components of the oil are β-sesquiphellandrene and zingiberene. |
| Chemical Properties | Obtained by steam distillation of dried, ground rhizomes The yield is approximately 0 25 to 1.2% The oil has a warm, spicy, aromatic odor; the oil tends to thicken and darken on exposure to air The oil lacks the pungency of the other derivatives. |
| Physical properties | Ginger oil is a light-yellow to yellow liquid It is soluble in most fxed oils and in mineral oil It is soluble, usually with turbidity, in alcohol, but it is insoluble in glycerin and propylene glycol. |
| Occurrence | Found in the plant Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Fam. Zingiberaceae) (Guenther, 1952). |
| Uses | Flavor in foods and beverages. |
| Preparation | By steam distillation of the dried ground rhizomes (Fenarolis' Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, 1971). |
| Definition | Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae. |
| Essential oil composition | Main constituents include sesquiterpenes, farnesene, methylheptenone, cineol, borneol, geraniol and
linalool. |
| General Description | Ginger oil generally contains sesquiterpene hydrocarbons such as zingiberene, ar-curcumene, β-bisabolene and β-sesquiphellandrene and monoterpenes such as geranial, neral and camphene. |
| Biochem/physiol Actions | Taste at 30 ppm |
| Safety Profile | Moderately toxic by
ingestion and intraperitoneal routes. A skin
irritant. Mutation data reported. When
heated to decomposition it emits acrid
smoke and irritating fumes. |
