The yield of essential oil of ginger grown at Morretes, State of Paraná, Brazil, was obtained by steam distillation. The rhyzomes were sliced and dried at four different temperatures, ranging from 40 to 65°C. Distillations were made using the whole chips, grinded chips, and a fresh sliced material. No effect of temperature was observed. Distillation of grinded material increased the essential oil yield from 0.64% (only sliced) to 0.89% (grinded chips), in a dry weight basts. Essential oil composition was also modified by grinding, probably due to the volatization of some oil constituents.
Ginger; Zingiber officinale Roscoe; essential oil; ginger processing; Brazilian ginger