What a fascinating new profile for Ginger essential oil (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) special thanks to our lovely friend Debby Atterby who is also looking into what is happening in Australia today within the ginger industry, providing a little of the history behind the ginger plant and why it became so important in Australia during the early years. Her opening article in the new issue of Aromatika Magazine covers areas such as botanical review, aroma description and extraction features, farming, harvesting, essential oil yield, adulteration issues, and of course therapeutics.
A little snippet here: “For the production of ginger essential oil, harvesting occurs eight to ten months after planting. Ginger essential oil's yield varies from 1 to 3%, depending upon the source of rhizomes. The origin, the freshness or dryness of the rhizome and the extraction methods used all affect the chemical composition of the essential oil. Drying the rhizomes at a temperature lower than 70C will increase the yield without a affecting the transformation of gingerol to shogaol.”
“The volatile oil from the ginger rhizomes is composed of around 5% monoterpenes, 65% sesquiterpenes and 30% oxygenated compounds. These compounds are responsible for the oil's characteristic taste and aroma, with the main compound being α-zingiberene sesquiterpene. We can also find shogaols, produced when the root is dried, as a breakdown substance from gingerols. These compounds present various chain lengths in ginger, the most abundant being 6-Gingerol. Shoagaols and gingerols are responsible for the essential oil's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.“
Some of the main areas of Deby Atterby’s clinical practice is Aromatic Medicine, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Iridology and Remedial Massage Therapy, and she is also a Beauty Therapist, Lecturer and publisher of the well-known Aromatherapy Today International Journal. Her ginger paper is one of the most extensive in-depth profiles on Ginger, well-structured, engaging, and goes though the stuff we want to know about this plant in aromatherapy, and more! Check out our very fresh AUTUMN issue of AROMATIKA Magazine (9.3.)!
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