Ginger or
Zingiber officinale Roscoe is a well-known herbal medicine and is widely used in Asian cuisine. Its major bioactive compounds, ۶-gingerol and its dehydrated form, ۶-shogaol, were reported to have potential medicinal properties. However, previous phytochemical studies on the compounds are limited to conventionally grown or soil-based ginger, neglecting soilless ginger grown through
hydroponic techniques. This technique has been widely adopted as an alternative to circumvent soil-related complications. Therefore, this study aimed to compare both marker compounds in soil-based (SB) and soilless-grown
hydroponic (HP) ginger extracted in different ethanol concentrations (۹۵% and ۱۰۰%) using high-performance liquid chromatography. The study initially found that ۶-gingerol concentration in ۹۵% SB ginger ethanolic extract (۱.۰۱۲%) was significantly higher (p<۰.۰۵) than in ۹۵% HP dried ginger (HP۱) ethanolic extract (۰.۳۱۴%). The ۶-gingerol content for both gingers were also significantly higher (p<۰.۰۵) in ۹۵% ethanolic extracts compared to ۱۰۰% ethanolic extracts. The analysis was also performed with fresh-dried HP ginger (HP۲), and it was found that the HP۲ ginger (۰.۷۵%) has a significantly higher ۶-gingerol concentration (p<۰.۰۵) compared to HP۱ ginger (۰.۳۱۴%), confirming that the previous results were implicated by storage conditions. The concentration of ۶-gingerol in ۹۵% SB ginger extract (۱.۰۱۲%) differ significantly compared to those in HP۲ extract (۰.۷۵%) while both gingers have equivalent amount of low ۶-shogaol concentrations (۰.۰۰۰۴% and ۰.۰۰۰۵% respectively). It is worth to note that HP ginger grown in soilless condition could still produce high amount of ۶-gingerol. This finding encourages the usage of HP ginger in pharmacological studies considering the other economic and environmental benefits it offers.