Hedychium Essential Oils: Composition and Uses

Hedychium spp., composed of about 80 species, are multipurpose plants that are generally used as ornamental plants because of their showy, diverse, and scented colorful flowers. Hedychium extracts are widely used in traditional medicine to treat a multitude of ailments, while their essential oils have shown antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticidal properties. Because of these properties, Hedychium essential oils have the potential for use in plant-based formulations of preservatives to improve shelf life of stored food products.