Identification of High Rhizome and Essential Oil Yielding Variety (Jor Lab ZB-103) of Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Sm.

Zingiber zerumbet of the Zingiberaceae family is known as wild edible ginger having various medicinal properties. The present study was aimed at identification of high essential oil yielding genotypes tested through stability parameters at multilocation trials. During the year 2017, a total of 47 genotypes of Z. zerumbet was collected and planted at experimental farm of CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat, Assam India. A selection trial was conducted for two years viz., 2017 and 2018 for all the collected germplasm which led to the identification of a genotype with high fresh rhizome and essential oil yielding traits. The identified genotype RRLJ ZB-103 was rich in fresh rhizome yield of 24.86 t/ha and essential oil of 0.75 % (FWB). The selected genotype was subjected to stability analysis along with two check varieties at five multilocation trials for two years. The assessment of stable performance was evaluated using Eberhart and Russell model. Variable environments were found to be present in the study as revealed by the significant variance due to environment and environment (linear). The genotype x environment interaction of the selected genotype also showed significant variance for all the traits revealing the good interaction of the genotype with all the environmental conditions. On comparative assessment, the selected genotype RRLJ ZB-103 later named Jor Lab ZB- 103 was found to be highly stable with high adaptability to varying environments for all the traits under study. While both the check varieties revealed low adaptability to varying environments for the higher-yielding traits. The GC/MS analysis of the essential oil of Jor Lab ZB-103 revealed zerumbone (32.79 %) as the major compound followed by camphene (19.41 %) and eucalyptol (6.80 %). The other compounds were present as minor and trace compounds. The identified high yielding genotype Jor Lab ZB-103 was found to be a highly stable genotype that could be made available in the public domain for commercial cultivation.

Automated summary

The study identified a high essential oil yielding genotype of Zingiber zerumbet through multilocation trials. Stability analysis revealed that the genotype RRLJ ZB-103 showed high stability and adaptability to varying environments.GC/MS analysis of the essential oil of Jor Lab ZB-103 revealed zerumbone as the major compound, making it suitable for commercial cultivation.