Extraction and Characterization of Ginger Oil and its Application

In Myanmar, ginger is called gyin and it is widely used in cooking and as a main ingredient in traditional medicines. In addition, ginger oil, an essential oil, is also used in medicine and used for cooking, as a flavoring for cookies, biscuits and cake, and it is the main flavor in ginger ale. The present research emphasized the extraction of ginger oil by using water distillation and water and steam distillation methods. The variation of extraction time to achieve the highest yield of ginger oil was conducted. The suitable extraction times were (2) hrs for water and steam distillation method and (4) hrs for water distillation method. The physico-chemical properties of ginger oil such as colour, refractive index, peroxide value and acid value were determined. Identification of extracted ginger oil was carried out by FT-IR analysis. Then, three types of balm using extracted ginger oil were also formulated by incorporating in beeswax, paraffin wax, camphor, menthol, methyl salicylate and eucalyptus oil respectively. The physico-chemical properties of balm were also determined and dermatological tests of prepared balm were also conducted for safe use