Chemical composition of Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) essential oil and herbicidal activity on Parthenium and fungal spp
Chemical composition of Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) essential oil and herbicidal activity on Parthenium and fungal spp
- Author(s) Sandhya Kumari, Sushila Arya, Kamini Yadav and Paratikshya Khadka
- Year: 2025
- Month: May
- Volume: 65
- Pages: 51-66
Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) shell ginger is a perennial plant valued for its essential oils (EO). We compared the chemical composition and biological activities of its rhizome and leaf essential oils extracted by hydro-distillation and analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The major constituents of rhizome oil were camphor (33.63 %), 1,8-cineole (13.91 %), ß-linalool (9.95 %) and a-terpineol (5.75 %), whereas leaf oil contained 1,8-cineole (39.86 %), camphor (12.39 %), a-terpineol (9.67 %), ß-linalool (6.42 %) and terpin-4-ol (3.81 %). Herbicidal activity was tested against Parthenium hysterophorus at concentrations of 50-200 µL/mL. The rhizome oil inhibited seed germination by 93.33 % (IC50 = 96.76 µL/mL), root length by 97.77 % (IC50 = 98.70 µL/mL) and shoot length by 74.84 % (IC50 = 110.43 µL/mL) at 200 µL/mL. The leaf oil showed stronger inhibition, with 91.66 % inhibition of seed germination (IC50 = 88.09 µL/mL), 98.14 % root length inhibition (IC50 = 96.07 µL/mL) and 90.00 % shoot length inhibition (IC50 = 109.19 µL/mL). Antifungal activity was assessed using the poisoned food technique against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and Curvularia lunata. At 200 µL/mL, the rhizome oil inhibited C. lindemuthianum and C. lunata growth by 91.48 % and 90.00 %, respectively, while leaf oil showed slightly higher inhibition of 92.22 % and 90.74 %, respectively. These findings highlight the potential of A. zerumbet essential oils as natural herbicides and antifungal agents, offering an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic chemicals.
