Zingiber officinale rhizome as a source of 6-gingerol: isolation and pharmacological significance of the phenolic component

Objective: The aim of the study was to find the beneficial isolation conditions for 6-gingerol–a pharmacologically precious phenolic constituent of the oleoresin obtained from the rhizomes of Zingiber officinale by means of centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) –in a high purity form, directly from the injection of crude extract.
Methods: Centrifugal partition chromatography operated in a gradient mode was used for the recovery of the phenolic component from the complex matrix of the ginger oleoresin and high resolution HPLC-MS instrument for the purity control of the isolate.
Results: 6-gingerol was found to be one of the leading components of ginger rhizome methanolic extract. In the study CPC chromatography-based isolation protocol was  laborated using a gradient of the following solvents: n-hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water, with a decreasing water content to purify 6-gingerol and separate the  henolic constituents from terpenes abundantly represented in the sample. The recovery of 6-gingerol was achieved within 45 min of the analysis run and the obtained purity of the component exceeded 92%. The compound was later found to exhibit strong anti-inflammatory potential towards the following cytokines: TNF-alpha, IL-6, IP-10, IL-10, MCP-1, IL-1ra, RANTES, IL-1 alpha, GM-CSF, TSLP.
Conclusion: CPC chromatography is capable for the isolation of high purity 6-gingerol from the oleoresin of Zingiber officinale. The component was proved to have marked  anti-inflammatory properties.