The flavorfully significant compounds in ginger essential oil were selected statistically by use of a step-wise multiple regression analysis which treated individual peak quantitities on a gas chromatogram as independent variables and taste panel scores for ginger flavor intensity as dependent variables. The statistical analysis showed that four gas chromatographic peaks, consisting of a terpineol, citral a, citral b (peak 11), β-sesquiphellandrene, ar-curcumene (peak 14), nerolidol (peak 19), and a sesquiterpene alcohol (peak 29), accounted for 85% of the panel's flavor response (R2=0.85). Taste panel evaluations of the isolated components indicated that β-sesquiphellandrene and ar-curcumene are the prime contributors to the characteristic ‘ginger’ attribute. α-Terpineol, citral a and citral b contribute to the ‘lemony’ attribute of ginger oil and may therefore be desirable additives to whole ginger oil to intensify its ‘lemony’ character. Nerolidol contributes to the ‘woody’ or ‘soapy’ attribute and does not appear to be a good potential additive to ginger oil. A trained sensory panel judged a mixture of α-terpineol, citral a, citral b, β-sesquiphellandrene, ar-curcumene and nerolidol to be characteristic of ginger oil. The panel found a mixture of these chemicals, in combination with ginger heat chemicals, to be a suitable imitation ginger flavor. The study has shown that statistics can be used in selecting the individual flavor contributing components of a flavor essence. This approach can greatly reduce the number of compounds which need be identified in the investigation of the composition of natural flavoring substances.