RESUMO
Essential oils obtained from the rhizomes of normal and organic ginger plants (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) were characterized by GC and GC‐MS. Zingiberene was the chief compound in both ginger oils. Organic ginger oil contained geranial (10.5%) as the second main compound and had more oxygenated compounds (35.1%) compared to normal ginger oil (31.9%). The organic ginger oil also contained β‐bisabolene (6.1%), ar‐curcumene (5.8%), sesquiphellandrene (2.6%) and δ‐cadinene (2.2%). Antimicrobial activity of both the extracted oils was assessed against Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stephylococcus aureus, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Shigella flexneri, Candida albicans, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp by disc diffusion method and obtained results are comparable with the reference compounds. The MIC values of the oils ranged from 20μg/mL to 1 μg/mL which is very significant. The study shows a wide application of oil extracted from organic ginger in the treatment of many bacterial and fungal diseases.