Alpinia galanga

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Alpinia galanga
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Alpinia
Species:
A. galanga
Binomial name
Alpinia galanga

Alpinia galanga,

Southeast Asian cookery. It is one of four plants known as "galangal
". Its common names include greater galangal, lengkuas, and blue ginger.

Names

A. galanga rhizomes

The name "galangal" is probably derived from

Urdu.[2]

The name "lengkuas", on the other hand, is derived from

Ngaju Dayak langkuas; and Iban engkuas. Some of the names have become generalized and are also applied to other species of Alpinia as well as for Curcuma zedoaria.[3]

Alpinia galanga is also called laos in

Siddha Medicine and in culinaries. In Sri Lanka it is known as Araththa (අරත්ත).[5]

History of domestication

Lengkuas is native to South and Southeast Asia. Its original center of cultivation during the spice trade was Java, and today it is still cultivated extensively in Island Southeast Asia, most notably in the Greater Sunda Islands and the Philippines. Its cultivation has also spread into Mainland Southeast Asia, most notably Thailand.[6][7] Lengkuas is also the source of the leaves used to make nanel among the Kavalan people of Taiwan, a rolled leaf instrument used as a traditional children's toy common among Austronesian cultures.[8]

Description

The plant grows from rhizomes in clumps of stiff stalks up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in height with abundant long leaves that bear red fruit.[9] It is an evergreen perennial.[9] This plant's rhizome is the "galangal" used most often in cookery. It is valued for its use in food and traditional medicine. The rhizome has a pungent smell and strong taste reminiscent of citrus, black pepper and pine needles. Red and white cultivars are often used differently, with red cultivars being primarily medicinal, and white cultivars primarily as a spice.[6][7] The red fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine and has a flavor similar to cardamom.

Culinary uses

Tom kha kai, a Thai dish

The rhizome is a common ingredient in Thai curries and soups such as tom kha kai, where it is used fresh in chunks or cut into thin slices, mashed and mixed into curry paste.

It is also traditionally fermented with honey to produce the wine known as

Mansaka people of the Philippines.[10]

Traditional medicine

Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd.

Under the names 'chewing John', 'little John to chew', and 'court case root', it is used in

hoodoo folk magic.[citation needed
] In Unani medicine 'A.Galanga' is called as 'Khulanjan' and its actions and uses have been mentioned in many unani classical literatures like Al qanun fittib The Canon of Medicine, maghzanul mufradath etc. It is considered as Muqawwi qalb (cardiac tonic), mufarreh, munaffise balgam, muqawwi meda, muqawwi bah etc. Its used in Asthma, cough, sore throat and other illnesses. Famous unani drug preparations with Khulanjan as an ingredient include Habb e Jadwar, Jawarish Jalinus, Jawarish Ood shirin etc.

Ayurveda considers A. galanga (Sanskrit:-rasna) as a Vata Shamana drug. Known as

Glycyrrhiza glabra) as folk medicine for colds and sore throats.[citation needed
]

Chemical constituents

Alpinia galanga rhizome contains the

cineol (which has medicinal properties), pinene, and eugenol, among others.[12]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-8493-1284-7
    . Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. ISBN 9781845697341
    .
  3. S2CID 146739541
    .
  4. ISBN 9789086861644
    .
  5. ^ "Ayurvedic Plants of Sri Lanka: Plants Details".
  6. ^
    ISBN 9788173049866
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 9781855737211
    .
  8. ^ Cheng, Lancini Jen-Hao (2014). Taxonomies of Taiwanese Aboriginal Musical Instruments (PDF) (PhD). University of Otago.
  9. ^ a b "Alpinia galanga - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  10. ^ Garcia, Ian Rav (28 February 2019). "Back in Maragusan". Mindanao Times.
  11. PMID 21046987
    .
  12. ISBN 978-979-3496-92-4. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2017.

Further reading

  • Greater galangal
  • Scheffer, J.J.C. & Jansen, P.C.M., 1999. Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd. record from Proseabase. de Guzman, C.C. and Siemonsma, J.S. (Editors). PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia.
Wikispecies has information related to Alpinia galanga.
  • Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd. Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) (in Chinese) (in English)
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