6-Gingerol is a compound that makes up roughly 1% of fresh ginger root. It is metabolized into 6-gingerdiols in living cells where it exhibits anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties, making 6-gingerol a compound of interest for pharmaceutical companies. Extraction of 6-gingerol from ginger rhizome is difficult due to the many other components found in ginger, mainly terpenes such as Zingiberene and α-sesquiphellandrene. These compounds are soluble in many of the same solvents that also dissolve 6-gingerol. In this study, extraction and isolation of 6-gingerol are attempted in order to produce the metabolites via its hydrogenation. A variety of solvents were tested for gingerol extraction and isolation. Near supercritical CO<sub>2</sub> extraction with co-solvents was also investigated. Analysis via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) indicated that methanol extraction followed by isolation with hexane is the most efficient method under our conditions. To mimic hydrogenation of 6-gingerol, reduction of model compounds was attempted to explore the possibility of producing chiral diols.

6-Gingerol extraction, isolation, and reduction to 6-gingerdiols

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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