Plant Source Foods
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Galangal is a perennial herb in the Zingiberaceae family. Galangal includes more than 200 species distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. However, only Lesser Galangal and Greater Galangal are the two species most used as both spice and medicinal herb (213–226). Lesser galangal has the taxonomic name Alpinia officinarum and is originated in Southeast China (Yunnan, Hainan isle), Vietnam, Laos, and Japan (Okinawa). Greater galangal, named Alpinia galanga, is native to Indonesia, and now cultivated in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, India), and in Australia and Hawaii (213–218). Different galangal species vary in their hotness and flavor. Flavor ranges from flowery to ginger-like to peppery-cinnamon. Greater Galangal rhizome has an orange-brown skin with pale yellow or white interior and is milder in flavor but larger in size (Figure 5.7). Lesser Galangal rhizome has a red-brown interior and fibrous texture. Both species can be eaten as fresh rhizome, sliced or powdered (213). Both the Greater and Lesser Galangal species have similar effects in cookery and medicine. Besides the two previous galangals, Kaempferia Galangal, another galangal species with red skin and white flesh in interior, is also sometimes used as a condiment and medicinal herb (213).
Ayurveda Renaissance – Quo Vadis?
D. Suresh Kumar in Ayurveda in the New Millennium, 2020
To clear the existing confusion in nomenclature, Krishnamurthy (1971) proposed a new method of pharmacolinguistics, which is the study of linguistic aspects of names of medicinal plants, applied in its rudimentary form by the medieval Armenian physician Amirdovlat' Amasiats' I (1420–1496) (Gueriguian 1987). Based on this method he ascertained the identities of Haimavati and Kuliñjana. From eight different plants Haimavati was identified as Acorus gramineus. Alpinia galanga, Kaempferia galanga, Alpinia chinensis and Alpinia officinarum are generally equated with the Sanskrit entity Kuliñjana. However, based on pharmacolinguistic study it was ascertained that Alpinia galanga is the correct choice (Krishnamurthy 1971).
Increasing the Sensitivity of Adipocytes and Skeletal Muscle Cells to Insulin
Christophe Wiart in Medicinal Plants in Asia for Metabolic Syndrome, 2017
Ethanol extract of Alpinia officinarum Hance given to C57BL/6J mice at 0.5% of high-fat diet at a for 8 weeks lowered body weight gain, and epididymal and perirenal fat pad weight.350 This regimen decreased plasma insulin to normal and doubled plasma leptin.350 This supplementation lowered hepatic triglycerides contents by 17% and attenuated hepatic cholesterol.350 The extract decreased the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in the epididymal fat pads and suppressed hepatic expression of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ and fatty acid synthetase in the liver.350 From this extract galangin at 50 μM inhibited the accumulation of triglycerides in differentiating 3T3-L1 adipocytes with decreased expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, and fatty acid synthetase.350
Herbal and Natural Dietary Products: Upcoming Therapeutic Approach for Prevention and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2021
Deepa S. Mandlik, Satish K. Mandlik
Alpinia officinarum is reported for several pharmacological activities like anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, antiemetic, antimicrobial and cytotoxic actions (37). The diarylheptanoids obtained from the plant roots also indicated anti-cancerous activity against HepG2 hepatoma cancerous cells (38). The rhizome extract of A. officinarum and its constituents exhibited anti-cancerous potential against hepatoma cell lines. It might stimulate the apoptotic death of hepatoma cells in the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway through the stimulation of Bid and caspase-8 (39). Recent research also found that five components extracted from the rhizomes of A. officinarum exhibited a potent anti-inflammatory action on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated HepG2 cells. This component includes isorhamnetin, galangin, kaempferide and two diarylheptanoids. These compounds have down-regulated the dose-dependent gene expression of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and pro-inflammatory cytokines indicating the hopeful use in the management of certain inflammatory diseases (40). One of the research indicated that rhizome extract of A. officinarum can be used as a potential natural anti-cancerous agent against HCC with enhanced liver functions and reduced levels of alpha-fetoprotein in rats (41).
Effects and possible mechanisms of Alpinia officinarum ethanol extract on indomethacin-induced gastric injury in rats
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2018
Jingwen Gong, Zhong Zhang, Xuguang Zhang, Feng Chen, Yinfeng Tan, Hailong Li, Jie Jiang, Junqing Zhang
The Chinese traditional herb Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberoside) has been considered for treating NSAIDs-induced gastric injury due to its long history in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases without obvious adverse effects (Ding 2015). Alpinia officinarum has been used as an antiemetic, stomachic, and analgesic in Asia for centuries (Kakegawa et al. 2014). We previously demonstrated that A. officinarum extract exhibits an antiulcer effect in an ethanol-induced gastric injury rat model (Wei et al. 2015). However, the mechanisms of A. officinarum extract in treating NSAIDs-induced gastric diseases remain unknown. Galangin is the most abundant flavonoid in the A. officinarum ethanol extract; it inhibits human neutrophil degranulation (Kanashiro et al. 2007), reduces mRNA levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 (Sivakumar and Anuradha 2011; Jung et al. 2014), and binds with COX-2 as indicated by a molecular docking study (Honmore et al. 2016). These results suggest that galangin may be a potent antiulcer compound. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of A. officinarum extract and galangin on indomethacin-induced gastric injury, and to explore the underlying mechanisms.
Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles from Alpinia officinarum mitigates cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity via down-regulating apoptotic pathway in rats
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2019
Zhiping Zhang, Guangda Xin, Guangyu Zhou, Qianyu Li, Vishnu Priya Veeraraghavan, Surapaneni Krishna Mohan, Dayu Wang, Feng Liu
Plants are the major natural reservoir of antioxidants and they are used to treat various diseases like cancer, inflammation, hepatic disorders, kidney disorders etc., Alpinia officinarum, lesser galangal is a traditional plant of India and China [15]. It is a perennial herb belonging to the ginger family Zingiberaceae possessing ornamental leaves and white flowers [16]. Rhizome of A. officinarum possesses immense pharmacological traits like antitumor, antiulcer, antibacterial, and antifungal properties [17–19]. Poor bioavailability was the foremost drawback of herbal-based drugs. Nanoparticles are a promising agent to overcome the poor bioavailability of herbal-based drugs. Compared to physical and chemical synthesized nanoparticles green synthesized nanoparticles are more potent, eco-friendly, economic and without any side effects [20,21]. Phytochemicals present in plants reduces the metals and stabilizes the ions to form nanoparticles [22]. Various studies are reported the medicinal potency of silver nanoparticles synthesized from plant extracts against cancer, bacterial infection, inflammation. etc [23–25].
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