Antimicrobial activities of volatile oil compound from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale using solvent method extraction

Objective: To characterize the chemical constituents and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Zingiber officinale oil extracted with hexane.Methods: The air dried powdered rhizome of Z. officinale was extracted with n- hexane. The antimicrobial activity of Z. officinale oil extract was tested on gram positive and gram negative bacteria.Result: The extracted oil on GC-MS analysis resulted in the identification of 19 compounds, among which 13-Docosenoic acid was found to be the most abundant at 15.48 %. The preliminary antimicrobial screening of the oil from Z. officinale against four pathogens; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus revealed that the mean zone diameter of inhibition (Z.O.I) is concentration dependent in which pseudomonas aeruginosa showed highest concentration at 100 %. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values of the oil revealed these concentrations 12.5 %, 25 % 50 % and 100 % against the tested organisms respectively. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the oil on S. aureus was recorded at 100% concentration, while E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. typhi were all resistant.Conclusion: This study showed that the oil from Z. officinale may be used to manage some infectious diseases caused by the tested organisms.