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A comparative study of Zingiber

officinale Roscoe pulp and peel:
phytochemical composition and
evaluation of antitumour activity
a a a
Mariangela Marrelli , Francesco Menichini & Filomena Conforti
a
Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences,
University of Calabria, Italy
Published online: 10 Mar 2015.

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To cite this article: Mariangela Marrelli, Francesco Menichini & Filomena Conforti (2015): A
comparative study of Zingiber officinale Roscoe pulp and peel: phytochemical composition and
evaluation of antitumour activity, Natural Product Research: Formerly Natural Product Letters, DOI:
10.1080/14786419.2015.1020491

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2015.1020491

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 Natural Product Research, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2015.1020491

SHORT COMMUNICATION
A comparative study of Zingiber officinale Roscoe pulp and peel:
phytochemical composition and evaluation of antitumour activity
Mariangela Marrelli, Francesco Menichini and Filomena Conforti*

Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Italy

(Received 29 December 2014; final version received 13 February 2015)
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 13:25 10 April 2015

Zingiber officinale Roscoe

Antioxidant activity
Peel extract Antiproliferative activity

Phytochemical composition

Inhibition of NO production
Pulp extract
Antiradical activity

Colon cancer is one of the major causes of cancer mortality worldwide. Hydroalcoholic
extract of ginger peel extract was more potent against colon cancer cells than ginger
pulp hydroalcoholic extract using MTT assay, while ginger pulp hydroalcoholic
extract showed higher anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. The two samples of
ginger showed a different polyphenolic content and lipophilic composition. Peel
extract possessed twice the polyphenolic content than pulp and the highest number of
non-polar compounds. Among them, a-zingibirene was found to be the major
constituent. The findings add to epidemiologic evidence for therapeutic effects of
ginger peel in colorectal carcinoma.
Keywords: fatty acids; colorectal carcinoma; NO production; phytosterols; Zingiber
officinale

1. Introduction
Colon cancer is one of the major causes of cancer mortality worldwide, which results from
interactions of different factors such as aging, family history and dietary style. It has been
suggested that consumption of higher levels of vegetable foods can lead to a lower incidence of
acquiring colon cancer (Oba et al. 2007; Yang et al. 2009). Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)
is a branched rhizome that has a characteristic aromatic and pungent flavor (Bartley 1995)
belonging to the Zingiberaceae family. It has been cultivated since ancient times for cooking and
medicinal preparations. Over the years, many investigations reported that ginger and many of its
chemical constituents possess many health benefits (Kubra & Rao 2012). Ginger is reported to
contain numerous chemical constituents and these vary depending on the place of origin and
whether the rhizomes are fresh or dry. To the best of our knowledge, no studies were conducted
on comparison of pulp and peel of ginger rhizomes so, in this study, we investigated the

*Corresponding author. Email: filomena.conforti@unical.it

q 2015 Taylor & Francis

 2 M. Marrelli et al.

lipophilic composition, in vitro antiproliferative activity against colon cancer cells and anti-
inflammatory properties through inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-stimulated
RAW 267.1 macrophages of pulp and peel ginger rhizomes extracts.

2. Results and discussion

2.1. Chemical composition
Total extracts were obtained using maceration technique with hydroalcoholic solution (70%
ethanol) at room temperature (Table 1). Table 2 summarises the lipophilic composition of two
samples of ginger determined by GC-MS. In total, 45 components were identified in n-hexane
fraction, that was characterised by a high amount of sesquiterpenes and fatty acids followed by
phytosterols. The fatty acid fraction was essentially constituted by a small amount of saturated
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 13:25 10 April 2015

fatty acids such as myristic, palmitic and stearic acids while a high amount of unsaturated fatty
acids such as oleic, linoleic, linolenic acids. Among the unsaturated fatty acids, the major
concentration was showed by pulp sample with 6.33% and 5.31% for linoleic acid ethyl ester
and palmitic acid, respectively. Peel sample had a higher content of linoleic acid methyl ester
(2.58%) in comparison to pulp sample. The peel sample possessed a content of sesquiterpenes
of better quality in comparison to pulp sample. Among these sequiterpenes, the major
concentration was showed by peel sample with 19.60% and 18.51% for a-zingibirene and
zingiberone, respectively. g-Sitosterol had higher concentration in pulp (4.36%) in comparison
to peel (2.53%) while stigmasterol was present at major concentration in peel. Phenolic content
(TP) varied widely in the two samples, 81 and 178.5 mg/g in pulp and peel extracts,
respectively as well as flavonoid content (TF) (2 and 7 mg/g in pulp and peel extracts,
respectively) (Table 1).

2.2. Inhibition of NO production and antioxidant activity

The activity of pulp and peel ginger rhizomes relative to reduction of inflammation was studied
in vitro by analysing their inhibitory effects on the chemical mediator NO released from
macrophages. As shown in Table 1, incubation of RAW 264.7 cells with extract of pulp ginger
sample induced inhibition effect on the LPS-induced nitrite production (36.74% at 1 mg/mL)
while peel ginger sample exhibited no activity.
Antiradical activity using DPPH test was showed by pulp extract with an IC50 value of
207.5 mg/mL while antioxidant activity using b-carotene bleaching test was showed by peel

Table 1. The yield (%) of extraction, total phenolics (TP) and flavonoids (TF) content and inhibition of NO
production of pulp and peel ginger rhizomes.
Pulp Peel
Fresh material (g) 54 29
Solvent extraction Ethanol 70% Ethanol 70%
Extract (g)a 1.24 0.65
Yield % 2.3 2.3
TP (mg/g)b 81.00 ^ 2.78 178.50 ^ 7.55
TF (mg/g)c 2.020 ^ 0.073 6.990 ^ 0.180
Inhibition of NO production 36.74% at 1 mg/mL No activity
a
Data from 1 representative extraction.
b
Total phenolics (TP) were expressed as chlorogenic acid equivalents in mg per g of extract.
c
Total flavonoids (TF) were expressed as quercetin equivalents in mg per g of extract, experiment was performed in
triplicate and expressed as mean ^ SD.
 Natural Product Research 3

Table 2. Non-polar compounds from pulp and peel ginger rhizome extracts.

RAPc
Peak No. Compounda RTb Pulp Peel
1 2-Heptanone 5.660 – trd
2 6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-one 8.072 – tr
3 Octanal 8.174 – tr
4 1-Borneol 10.958 – 0.21
5 Decanal 11.181 – 1.90
6 l-a-Terpineol 11.324 – 0.12
7 b-Citronellol 11.432 – tr
8 2-Undecanone 12.198 – 0.23
9 a-Terpinene 12.318 – tr
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10 Capric acid, methyl ester 12.404 – tr

11 E-citral 12.432 – tr
12 (Z)-b-Farnesene 13.621 – 0.18
13 b-Selinene 14.050 – tr
14 g-Cadinene 14.164 – tr
15 a-Zingibirene 14.210 0.98 19.60
16 (-)-a-Curcumene 14.261 – 3.21
17 b-Bisabolene 14.313 – 3.50
18 b-Selinene 14.387 – 0.14
19 b-Patchoulene 14.433 – 0.25
20 Bicyclo[4.4.0]dec-1-en, 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-9-methylene 14.513 – 1.03
21 b-Sesquiphellandrene 14.570 Tr 6.74
22 d-Cadinene 14.661 – 0.30
23 Elemol 15.164 – 0.37
24 g-Elemene 15.210 – 0.26
25 Epi-bicyclosesquiphellandrene 15.983 – 0.26
26 a-Gurjunene 16.027 – 0.28
27 Myristic acid, methyl ester 16.233 – 0.81
28 Zingiberone 17.113 2.85 18.51
29 Palmitic acid, methyl ester 17.868 – 1.15
30 Palmitic acid 18.273 5.31 –
31 Palmitic acid, ethyl ester 18.342 2.03 tr
32 Oleic acid, methyl ester 19.319 – 0.90
33 Stearic acid, methyl ester 19.359 – 0.46
34 Linoleic acid, methyl ester 19.394 – 2.58
35 Linolenic acid, methyl ester 19.548 – 0.35
36 Oleic acid, ethyl ester 19.742 – 0.48
37 Stearic acid, ethyl ester 19.788 – tr
38 Ethyl linoleate (Linoleic acid ethyl ester) 19.822 6.33 1.65
39 Seselin 20.948 6.59 –
40 Xanthotoxin 21.051 1.61 –
41 Bergapten 21.068 – 0.11
42 Osthol 21.251 0.96 0.13
43 Columbianetin 22.366 1.35 –
44 Stigmasta-5,23-dien-3b-ol 36.402 – 0.44
45 g-Sitosterol 38.568 4.36 2.53
Notes: 1,2,8:ketones; 3, 5: aldehydes; 4,6,7: monoterpene alcohols; 9: monoterpene; 11: terpenoid aldehyde; 12-22, 24-
26: sesquiterpenes; 23: sesquiterpene alcohol; 28: sesquiterpenoid compound; 10, 27, 29-38: fatty acids; 39:
pyranocoumarin; 40-43: furanocoumarins; 44, 45: phytosterols.
a
Compounds listed in order of elution from SE30 MS column.
b
Retention time (as minutes).
c
Relative area percentage (peak area relative to total peak area %).
d
Compositional values less than 0.1% are denoted as traces.
 4 M. Marrelli et al.

Table 3. IC50 values (mg/mL) of pulp and peel ginger rhizomes.

Pulp Peel
Antiradical activity (DPPH test) 207.5 ^ 2.18 . 1000
Antioxidant activity (b-carotene bleaching test)
30 min of incubation .100 20.91 ^ 0.43
60 min of incubation .100 21.94 ^ 0.26
Cytotoxic activity (MTT assay) .100 69.32 ^ 0.73
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Figure 1. (A) Antiproliferative activity against LoVo cells of peel extract; (B) control; (C) 100 mg/mL of
peel extract.

extract with an IC50 value of 21 and 22 mg/mL after 30 and 60 min of incubation, respectively
(Table 3).

2.3. Antiproliferative activity

The cytotoxic effects on the growth of tumour cell line are given in Figure 1. The most
responsive sample on colon carcinoma LoVo was the peel extract with percent of inhibition of
77 at concentration of 100 mg/mL in comparison to the pulp extract that exhibited no activity.
Testing different concentrations, it was possible to define the IC50 value: 69.32 mg/mL (Table 3).
Previous studies demonstrated the activity of specific compounds derived from ginger on human
pancreatic cancer cell lines (Park et al. 2006) and on human COLO 205 colorectal cancer cells
(Pan et al. 2008; Zhu et al. 2013).

3. Conclusions
This study evidenced the different chemical composition of pulp and peel ginger rhizomes
particularly for lipophilic compounds such as fatty acids, terpenes and phytosterols. For this
purpose rhizomes portions (pulp and peel) were analysed. The different chemical composition
showed by the two rhizomes portions affects the in vitro biological activities. In particular, peel
extract have an interesting antiproliferative activity against colorectal carcinoma and this
activity could be attributed to the main compound a-zingiberene and derivatives (Bou et al.
2013). This study would propose the use of peel rhizomes as an accessible possible source of
compounds useful for treatment of colorectal carcinoma. Further in vivo studies, in particular on
identification of molecular mechanism of action are warranted to confirm the in vitro activity.

Supplementary material
Experimental details relating to this article are available online.
 Natural Product Research 5

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