Lesser Alpinia

Overview

Lesser alpinia is indigenous to East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China (Yunnan), Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It is widely spread from Eastern Bengal to Indo-China and southward to Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra.

Vernacular Names

Jie Bian Shan Jiang (Chinese), Muschelgalgant (German), Chengkenam (Malay), Khaa Ling (Thai), Riềng Rừng (Vietnamese).

Agroecology

In its native tropical/subtropical range, it thrives in shaded and moist environment of valleys and humid rainforest from 600 to 1,000 m elevation. This species is also semi-wild, common in open wet grounds such as edges of rice fields and streams, as well as under the shade of palm oil and rubber trees. It is the most cold tolerant of the ginger species.

Morphology

• Leaves glabrous except for pubescence along leaf margin, and along the midvein on the under surface of the leaf. Young leaves with a glossy sheen. Leaf blades are oblong or lanceolate, 15-30 cm by 1-10 cm.
• Flowers - corolla white, lip cream colored/ yellowish with reddish brown streaks, up to 1.5 cm long. In some specimens (mainly from China), the corolla is dark reddish brown.
• Inflorescence - erect, 20–25 cm long and sometimes 1–2 branched, secondary branches have many cincinni.
• Fruits - pink or red fruits are round when fresh, oblong when dry, and 8-10 mm wide. Each fruit contains 3-5 seeds that are strongly aromatic.

Cultivation

This plant is propagated by rhizome division or seeds.

Chemical Constituents

1′S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate, trans-p-coumaryl diacetate, p-hydroxycinnamyl acetate, 1′S-1′-hydroxychavicol acetate, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The rhizome is considered diaphoretic and stimulating. It is used in the treatment of bronchitis, jaundice, headache, ringworm, indigestion, abscesses and vertigo.
• A poultice of the boiled leaves, or mixed together with rhizome, is applied topically in the treatment of rheumatism.
• The pounded leaves are used as a poultice after confinement and for treating ringworm.
• In Malaysia, pounded leaves as poultice is used for boils and swellings on stomach after childbirth, pounded rhizome is rub for inside bone pain and powdered rhizome mixed with water as poultice for stomach ache.
• Rhizome juice mixed in water is drank for dysmenorrhoea.
• Ground rhizome mixed with vinegar or kerosene is rubbed on fungal skin infection.