Chemical variability on Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Sm. essential oil with respect to different comminution methods

Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Sm. is an important perennial medicinal plant native to Southeast Asia. In this communication, the physicochemical differences in essential oil yield and chemical composition are investigated in relation to different comminution methods of Z. zerumbet rhizomes. The essential oils were extracted from the rhizomes using different comminution methods, namely grating (GR), chopping (CR), slicing (SR), using a mixture grinder (MR), and using a pestle mortar (PR). The essential oil of fresh rhizomes (FR) was also extracted to look for chemical variations depending on the respective comminution methods. Over thirty-three compounds were identified in the collections using GC-FID and GC-MS techniques. Zerumbone (69.66 ± 2.17 %- 73.9 ± 3.76%) was identified as the major compound in the collections followed by α-humulene (5.40 ± 1.38–14.99 ± 0.74%), humulene oxide-I (3.10 ± 0.23–3.81 ± 0.46%), humulene oxide-II (2.05 ± 0.06–2.47 ± 0.63%) and camphene (3.33 ± 0.68–3.56 ± 0.33%). •The physicochemical variation in the EOs due to different comminution methods was studied.•Over thirty-three compounds were identified in the collections using GC-FID/GC-MS.•Zerumbone (69.66 ± 2.17 %- 73.9 ± 3.76%) was identified as the major compound.•α-humulene (5.40–7.80% for 3 samples vs 13.41–14.99% for 2 samples) varied substantially.•PCA showed relation between EOs constituents and different comminution methods.