Identification of caryophyllene in oils and hydrosols from various parts of etlingera elatior (Zingiberaceae)

Among the valuable species of medical plants, local scientists and research have shown increasing interests in plants of Ginger family due to its wide potentials. The family of Zingiberaceae is conventionally classified into distinct genera such as Curcuma, Kaempferia, Alpinia, Zingiber and Etlingera each genus consisting several species. Since Etlingera' present study will thus concentrate on identifying Caryophyliene in secondary (dissolved fraction of essential oil) and hydrosol from various parts of Etlingera elatior. The hydro distillation process of various parts (leaves, stems, flowers) of E. elatior yielded different types of essentials oil, namely primary oils and hydrosol, with secondary oils were extracted from the hydrosols. The standard Caryophyllene has been injected into HPLC showed the highest peak at the retention time of 27.852 min. The highest peak of the retention time of the leaves, flowers and time of hydrosols were 2.466, 4.427 and 3.535 min, respectively. Furthermore, as for 'secondary oil' the highest peak of the retention time of leaves, flowers and stems were 2.383, 3.162 and 4.964 min respectively. The essential oils from various parts of Etlingera elatior can be obtained through hydro distillation process yielded primary oils and hydrosols. The of oils `secondary oils' were extracted later from the hydrosol using hexane. The analysis was done using HPLC using Caryophyllene as a standard.