Search This Blog

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Alpinia officinarum Hance

Family-  Zingiberaceae.
Habitat-  Native to China; cultivated in northern India.
English-  Lesser Galangal, Alpinia,Catarrh Root, Chinese Ginger.
Ayurvedic-  Kulanjan (var.).
Unani-  Khulanjaan (smaller var.).
Siddha/Tamil-  Chitrarattai.
Action-  Rhizome—a circulatory stimulant and carminative.
Key application-  As a carminative.(The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.)Aqueous and methanolic extracts of
the rhizome, on oral administration,exhibited significant decrease in gastric secretion in rabbits and showed anticholinergic effect in pylorus-ligated rats.Flavones from rhizomes are strongly antifungal against a wide variety of pathogenic fungi, responsible for major skin diseases in eastern India.Flavones were also found to be active against a number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.The gingerols and diaryheptanoids
constituents of the rhizome are potent inhibitors of PG synthetase (prostaglandin biosynthesizing enzyme); they can also be active against 5-lipoxygenase,an enzyme involved in leukotriene biosynthesis (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)

No comments:

Post a Comment