DIARYLHEPTANOIDS FROM THE RHIZOMES OF ZINGIBER OFFICINALE

Abstract

Ginger (Zingiber officinale rhizome) is commonly used as a spice in food. It is also
used as an herbal medicine for thousands of years to treat headaches, colds, arthritis,
pains, hypertension, infectious diseases. The broad range of biological activity of
Ginger was explained due to the rich of terpenoids and phenolics as well as polyphenol
and arylalkanes. This paper describes the isolation and identification of three
diarylheptanoids including (3R)-1,7-bis(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)heptan-3-ol (1),
(3R,5R)-1,7-bis(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)heptan-3,5-diol (2), and trans-1,7-bis(3,4-
dihydroxyphenyl)hept-4-en-3-one (3) from less polar soluble fraction of the rhizome
of Z. officinale. Their chemical structures were determined by analysis of ESI-MS and
NMR spectra.