Ginger Essential Oil

[Shastri Sean Seepersad]

 

 Ginger Essential Oil: What is that? What is ginger made of? Why is it useful for people?
Ginger is: A flowering plant of the family Zingiberaceae, which includes turmeric and cardamom. The underground stem, called a rhizome, is used as a spice in cuisine and is important for its richness in bioactive compounds that find use in medicine and aromatherapy. Ginger tonics have been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine for over 4700 years and have widely treated digestive problems and some kinds of inflammation (Ruggeri, 2021). In ancient trading routes, it was precious as it is capable of preserving and healing. Today, it continues to play an integral role in nutraceuticals and cosmetics.

Extraction and Chemical Compilation

According to Dr. Axe (Ruggeri, 2021), there are two principal means of acquiring essential oils from ginger, rhizome through steam distillation or supercritical CO₂ extraction. The latter method is preferred due to its low-temperature processing and lack of chemical solvents, allowing thermolabile compounds such as gingerol and shogaol to remain intact. However, distillation methods that utilize heat can cause breakdown of these volatiles and may eventually lead to inferior quality in the oil’s medicinal properties.

Ginger essential oil contains over 115 known compounds of which around 90% are said to be sesquiterpenes. Antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and antibacterial activity of the oil reside in the bioactive molecules named [6]-gingerol, zingibain, zerumbone, and shogaol. These substances determine its very physicochemical behavior. Therefore it is very important to maintain the required control of temperature and pressure during extraction for the maximum yield of the oil while maintaining the quality.

Benefits to health:

Ginger oil’s pharmacological action overlaps with that of the fresh rhizome, but it is in a stronger form:

It protects against gastric and promotes digestive health, or nausea, colic, and indigestion.

Kills against E. coli, S. aureus, and Candida albicans, or Bacterial Fungicidal Typology Effects.

Anti-inflammatory Zingibain action in arthritis, headache, and muscle pain.

Protects against oxidative stress and free radicals.

Cardioprotective; increases lipid metabolism and decreases blood cholesterol.

Stimulation of the respiratory and circulatory systems; eases asthma and facilitates blood flow.

Neuropsychological effects as mood improves and anxiety lessens by means of in-house or location-based aromatherapy.

Such functions indicate that maintenance of phytochemicals sensitive to heat during extraction is therefore necessary in retaining their therapeutic efficacy.

Relevance to This Study:

Ginger oil is crucial in the current endeavor of designing and constructing a device that extracts essential oils from fibrous rhizomes. Gingerol and other volatiles and thermally unstable compounds would require a method for extraction that involved controlled heating coupled with mechanical disruption to break apart the dense lignocellulosic tissue of the rhizome without causing damage. Ruggeri (2021) would support further investigation into CO₂-based or hybrid low-temperature steam systems to improve extraction efficiency and product quality.

Reference
Ruggeri, C. H. H. C. (2021, December 12). Ginger Oil: Top 10 Benefits & How to Use It. Dr. Axe. https://draxe.com/essential-oils/ginger-essential-oil/

[Shastri Sean Seepersad]

I looked at this YouTube video on the same website and Dr. Axe outlined some considerations for my design parameters:

Dr. Axe (2021) mentions ginger essential oil. It has compounds, such as zingiberene and gingerol, they don’t handle heat so well. Should temperature be raised, those bioactive components begin to fail and oil may lose much of its therapeutic benefit. Therefore, CO₂ extraction may prove more useful than steam distillation. It forgoes solvents; consequently, it ensures there’s more “good stuff”.

Therefore, the construction of extraction systems, should mean focusing on temperature levels. A low heat point suggests low energy use and stainless steel construction is helpful. Consider a good condenser also to prevent both wasted energy and, to keep out all contamination and efficiency can ensue. There also are issues concerning, ginger’s thick roots, for ginger locks the oil in. To solve that though I may need to crush or cut into the ginger’s rhizome. Doing so busts the oil out of its cells so the extraction may ensue, or so I think.

 

[Shastri Sean Seepersad]

Wide applications & under-utilized potential:

Essential oils (EOs) are volatile liquid substances derived in plants that have numerous uses (fragrance, food preservation, pharmaceuticals). Out of the known EOs, which are approximately 3,000, only a small portion of these is developed/utilized, partially because of poor yields and quality issues.

Applicability to my project:

This justifies the value of my work since the interest in plant/rhizome EOs is very high and unexploited. My device might be used to unlock more of the fibrous rhizomes.

Extraction methods:

Conventional methods include hydro distillation (HD) and steam distillation (SD). Although simple, low cost and widely used, this kind of approach has several limitations like long extraction time, thermal stress on the plant materials undergoing extraction processes as well as a high rate for yield loss.

Organic solvent extraction (OSE) gives the possibility of higher yield, but it has the tradeoff of low yield and impurities.

Cold Pressing (CP) is a mechanical method that presupposes low energy and good aroma retention. But the yield is typically very low and there may be impurities in the oil obtained.

Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) with CO₂ produces high yield, mild conditions, but high capital cost and complexity.

Emerging methods: ultrasound-assisted (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE). They speed up extractions, improve yield and reduce solvent use.

Relevance: My design as tailored by the user via the empathy map and value proposition aspect will include some of these aspects

Separation & purification processes:

Once you have extracted you still have to separate and purify to enhance quality: e.g. chromatography, microporous resin, melt crystallization, molecular distillation etc. Such measures have an impact on purity and value of final EO. As an example, in certain situations ginger EOs were further purified by molecular distillation.

Applicability to my project: I am mainly interested in extraction (designing the device + yield), but I will add in my methodology how I are going to treat crude vs purified oil and purify it in the future/do so in some other work. It enhances my scope section.

Gaps:

Most of the traditional techniques are lengthy, energy consuming, might destroy volatile constituents (heat sensitive). In the case of mechanical methods (cold press) low yield and oil can have impurities like chlorophyll, cell tissue, pectin emulsification. Certain sophisticated techniques (SFE, MAE, UAE) are costly and need sophisticated equipment, which restricts use at the small-scale industry. Applicability to my project: These are the areas of challenge that I can pin my innovation: fibrous rhizomes are problematic in clogging or impurity; an appropriately designed extractor would save energy/time, boost yield, feed on fibrous feedstock. These critiques are my justification of my design gap.

Parameters to consider which can affect yield and quality:

1) Particle size, moisture content, pressure, temperature, and extraction time. This will affect the yield and composition of the EO’s

2) Microwave extraction will reduced the extraction time significantly compared to hydro distillation.

3) Project relevance: For the testing stages I will need to consider variables such as the pre-treatment i.e. grind size and moisture as well as applied mechanical stresses/pressure and heating temperatures if necessary.

Citation:
Zhou, W., Li, J., Wang, X., Liu, L., Li, Y., Song, R., Zhang, M., & Li, X. (2023). Research Progress on Extraction, Separation, and Purification Methods of Plant Essential Oils. Separations, 10(12), 596. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10120596

 

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