Galangal 363
21.6 Alpinia calcarata (lesser galangal)................................................
A. calcarata is also known as lesser galangal and its properties and uses are similar
to those of A. galanga. In the Ayurvedic medicines A. calcarata has virtually taken
the place of A. galanga mainly due to the non-availability of the latter. The traders do
not make any distinction among the three species; all of them are traded as the raw
drug ‘raasna’. Essential oil content of the plant is reported to be 0.07–0.10% in the
leaves; 0.17–0.25% in the rhizomes, and 0.25–0.28% in the root. The essential oil of
rhizome and leaves revealed about 31 and 28 compounds respectively. Major constituent
is 1,8-cineole (Tewari et al. 1999).
21.7 References and further reading......................................................
ACHUTHAN, C.R. and PADIKKALA, J. (1997) Hypolipidemic effect of Alpinia galanga (Raasna) and
Kaempferia galanga (Kachoori). Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry, 12(1), 55–58.
AKHTAR, M.S., KHAN, M.A. and MALIK, M.T. (2002) Hypoglycaemic activity of Alpinia galanga rhizome
and its extracts in rabbits. Filoterapia, 73, 623–628.
AL-YAHAYA, M.A., RAFATULLAH, S., MOOSA, J.S.,AGEEL, A.M and AL SAID, M.S. ( 1990) Gastric antisecretory,
antiulcer and cytoprotective properties of ethanolic extract of Alpinia galanga Willd. in rats.
Phytotherapy Res., 4, 112–114.
BARIK, B.R., KUNDU, A.B. and DEY, A.K. (1987) Two phenolic constituents from Alpinia galanga
rhizomes. Phytochemistry, 26, 2126–2127.
CAPASSO, R. and TAVARES, I.A. (2002) Effect of the flavonoid galangin on rat urinary bladder contractility
in vitro. J. Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 54, 1147–1150.
CHARLES, D.J., SIMON, J.E. and SINGH, N.K. (1992) The essential oil of Alpinia galanga Willd. J.
Essential oil Res., 4, 81–82.
CHOUDHURY, J.K. (1961) Essential oil bearing plants of India – a review. 1. Monocotyledons. Indian
Perfumer, 5, 13–22.
DE POOTER, H.L., NOR OMAR, M., COOLSAET, B.A. and SCHAMP, N.M. (1985) The essential oil of greater
galanga (Alpinia galanga) from Malaysia. Phytochemistry, 24, 93–96.
DUKE, J.A. (2003) CRC Handbook of Medicinal Spices, CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA.
GRIEVE, M. (1931) A Modern Herbal. Hafner Press, New York.
GUPTA, A.K. and TANDON, A. (2004) Reviews on Indian Medicinal Plants, Vol. 2, ICMR, New Delhi.
HARAGUCHI, H., KUWATA, Y., INADA, K., SHINGU, K., MIYAHARA, K., NAGAO, M. and YA G I, A. (1996) Antifungal
activity from Alpinia galanga and the competition for incorporation of unsaturated fatty acids
in cell growth. Planta Med., 62(4), 308–313.
ITOKAWA, H., MORITA, H., MIDORIKAWA, T., AIYAMA, R. and MORITA, M. (1985) Diarylheptanoids from the
rhizome of Alpinia officinarum Hance. Chem. Pharmaceutical Bull., 33, 4889–4893.
ITOKAWA, H., MORITA, H., SUMITOMO, T., TOTSUKA, N. and TAKEYA, K. (1987) Antitumour principles from
Alpinia galanga. Planta Medica, 53, 32–33.
JIROVETZ, L., BUCHBAUER, G., SHAFI, M.P. and LEELA, N.K. (2003) Analysis of the essential oils of the
leaves, stems, rhizomes and roots of the medicinal plant Alpinia galanga from southern India.
Acta. Pharma., 53, 73–81.
KALEYSA RAJ, R. (1975) Screening of indigenous plants for anthelmintic action against Ascaris
lumbricoides, Part 2. Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol., 19, 47–49.
KONG, L.Y., QIN, M.J. and NIWA, M. (2002) New cytotoxic bis-labdanic diterpenoids from Alpinia
calcarata. Plant Med., 68, 813–817.
KUMAR, S., SINGH, J.P. and KUMAR, S. (1990) Phytochemical screening of some plants of Manipur-1.
J. Econ. Bot. Phytochem., 1, 13–16.
LAWRENCE, B.M., HOGG, T.W. and TERHUNE, S.J. (1969) Essential oils and their constituents of oil of A.
officinarum. J. Essent. Oil Res., 60, 88.
MALLAVARAPU, G.R., RAO, L., RAMESH, S., DIMRI, B.P. RAJESWARA RAO, B.R., KAUL, P.N. and BHATTACHARYA,
A.K. (2002) Composition of the volatile oils of Alpinia galanga rhizomes and leaves from India.
J. Essential Oil Res., 14, 397–399.
Martindale, the Extra Pharmacopoeia. (1996) Royal Pharmaceutical Soc., London.