Relaxation Effect on Volunteers of Essential Oil from Amomum biflorum Jack

Abstract

Essential oil 0.72% w/w and 0.53% w/w yields from aerial part (leaves and leaf sheaths) and underground part (rhizomes) of Wan Sao Long (Amomum biflorum Jack.) were obtained separately by water distillation, respectively. Total 13 chemical constituents were found by Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technique, 11 and 10 chemical constituents were found in essential oil from aerial part and underground part, respectively. The highest chemical constituent was camphor. The study of relaxation effect of essential oil from the aerial part was performed on 120 healthy volunteers: students of Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai campus, using purposive sampling technique during June 2009 to January 2010. The result showed that 4-essential oil-drop was a minimum concentration that made a highest-ranked relaxation was statistically significant (p < 0.01) and had the effecting on relaxation with statistically significant (p < 0.01) when compared between the treatment and control groups.