Кемпферія галанга

Kaempferia galanga is a plant of the Zingiberaceae family with an aromatic rhizome. It is native to India and commonly found in China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It is differentiated from other galangals by the absence of a stem and by dark brown, rounded rhizomes. Alpinia galanga is a different plant, called greater galangal. The name lesser galangal properly refers to Alpinia officinarum.

The rhizomes have been reported to contain cineol, borneol, 3-carene, camphene, kaempferol, kaempferide, cinnamaldehyde, p-methoxycinnamic acid, ethyl cinnamate and ethyl p-methoxycinnamate. A total of 97 compounds have been obtained from the rhizome. In a GC/MS analysis of a rhizome oil rich in ethyl p-methoxycinnamate, that compound made up 66.39% of the area, followed by trans-ethyl cinnamate at 9.86% and 3-carene at 9.60%. The other compounds were present in minor amounts, each below 5%, among them endo-borneol, camphene, α-pinene and eucalyptol. In that oil the cinnamic acid esters made up 76.25% of the identified compounds, followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons at 15.12%. Reported compositions differ: in another analysis ethyl trans-cinnamate was the major component at 31.12%, followed by ethyl trans-p-methoxycinnamate at 14.3%.

Kaempferia galanga is used in Chinese cooking and is sold in Chinese groceries as sha jiang. The leaves are also used in the Malay rice dish nasi ulam. The plant is not commonly used in Thai cuisine, but can be bought as a dried rhizome or in powder form at herbal medicine stalls. In traditional Chinese medicine the rhizomes, which contain essential oils, have been used as a decoction or powder. Its alcoholic maceration has also been applied as a liniment for rheumatism.

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