Cekur Rhizome
Kaempferia galanga L.
Zingiberaceae
Figure 1 : K. galanga. (a) Whole plant; (b) dried rhizomes. (Photos courtesy of FRIM, 2012)
DEFINITION
Cekur rhizome consists of dried rhizome of Kaempferia galanga L. (Zingiberaceae).
SYNONYM
Alpinia sessilis J.Koenig, Kaempferia humilis Salisb., Kaempferia latifolia Donn ex Hornem, Kaempferia marginata Carey ex Roscoe, Kaempferia plantaginifolia Salisb., Kaempferia procumbens Noronha [ 1 ].
VERNACULAR NAMES
East-Indian galangal (English); cekur, cekur Jawa, cengkur (Malay); shan nai (Chinese); kacholam (Indian) [ 2 , 3 , 4 ].
CHARACTER
| Colour | Light brown (powder) |
| Odour | Characteristic |
| Taste | Slightly spicy and astringent |
IDENTIFICATION
Plant Morphology
K. galanga is a small herb. Rhizomes pale green or greenish white inside, fleshy, tuberous and fragrant. Leaves usually 2-3(-5), sheaths 1.5-5.0 cm long, blade often horizontal and appressed to the soil, broadly elliptical to suborbicular, 6-15 cm x (2-)5-10 cm, acuminate, glabrous above, arachnoid-hairy below. Inflorescence emerging from between the leaves, sessile, 4-12(-15)-flowered; calyx 2-3 cm long, corolla white, tube 2.5-5.0 cm long, lobes 1.5-3.0 cm long, labellum broadly obovate, divided to about halfway or more, white or pale purple with violet to purple spots at base, each lateral lobe about 2.0-2.5 cm x 1.5-2.0 cm, other staminodes oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, 1.5-3.0 cm long, white, fertile stamen 10-13 mm long, connective deeply bilobed with reflexed lobes. Root often bearing a small tuber [ 2 , 3 ].
Microscopy
Powdered material consists of parenchyma cells and peridermal cells with thin-walled and intercellular spaces, the cells are large and hexagonal to round in shape. The very abundant starch granules are usually simple with very few compound granules, round to oval with obvious striation. The vessels are fairly large and scarce, usually found in helical thickened and scalariform vessels form. Reddish brown secretory cells, few, usually associated with parenchyma cells. Very few unicellular trichomes are observed. Fibers few, usually found in association with thick reticulated vessels. Secretory cells and unicellular trichomes are also observed [ 5 ].
Figure 2 : Microscopic characters of K. galanga rhizome powder. (a) Parenchyma cells (magnification 10x); (b) peridermal cells (magnification 20x); (c-d) starch granules (magnification 10x & 40x); (e) helical thickened vessel (magnification 40x); (f) scalariform vessel (magnification 10x); (g) reddish brown secretory cells (magnification 4x); (h) unicellular trichome (magnification 10x); (i-j) fibre (magnification 40x & 10x). [Scale bars: a, c, f, h, j = 50 µm; b, g = 20 µm; d, e, i = 10 µm]
Colour Tests
Observed colour of solution after treatment with various reagents:
| H2SO4 (conc.) | Brown |
| NaOH (5%) | Yellow |
Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)
Figure 3 : HPTLC profiles of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate (S) and ethanol extracts of K. galanga dried rhizome powder (L1) observed under (a) UV at 254 nm before spraying, (b) visible light spraying and (c) UV at 366 nm after spraying with 10% sulphuric acid reagent.
| Test Solutions | Weigh about 1.5 g of K. galanga dried rhizome powder in a 50 mL screw-capped conical flask and add 15 mL of ethanol. Sonicate the mixture for 15 min. Filter and evaporate the filtrate to dryness. Reconstitute with 6 mL methanol and use the solution as test solution. |
| Standard solution | Dissolve 5 mg of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate [CAS no.: 24393-56-4] in 5 mL methanol to produce 1000 µg/mL solution. |
| Stationary Phase | HPTLC silica gel pre-coated plate 60 F254, 10 x 10 cm |
| Mobile phase | Hexane : ethyl acetate (9 : 1) (v/v) |
| Application |
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| Development distance | 7 cm |
| Drying | Air drying |
| Detection |
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High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
| Test solution | Weigh about 1.5 g of K. galanga dried rhizome powder in a 50 mL screw-capped conical flask and add 15 mL of ethanol. Sonicate the mixture for 15 min. Filter and evaporate the filtrate to dryness. Reconstitute with 6 mL methanol and use the solution as test solution. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Standard solution | Dissolve 2 mg of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate [CAS no.: 24393-56-4] in 2 mL methanol to produce 1000 µg/mL solution. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chromatographic system |
Detector: UV 309 nm |
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| Mobile Phase (gradient mode) |
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| System suitability requirement |
Perform at least five replicates injections of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate (1 mg/mL). The requirements of the system suitability parameters are as follow:
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| Acceptance criteria |
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(a)
(b)
Figure 4 : HPLC chromatogram of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate standard solution (1 mg/mL); (a) full and (b) zoom chromatogram at tr = 21.988 min.
(a)
(b)
Figure 5 : HPLC chromatogram of methanol extract of K. galanga rhizome powder; (a) full and (b) zoom chromatogram at tr = 21.988 min.
Figure 6 : UV spectrum of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate standard solution (1 mg/mL) and ethanol extract of K. galanga rhizome powder.
PURITY TESTS
| Foreign Matter |
| Not more than 2% |
| Ash Contents | |
| Total ash | Not more than 10% |
| Acid-insoluble ash | Not more than 2% |
| Loss on Drying |
| Not more than 15% |
| Extractive Values | |
| Water-soluble extracts | |
| Hot method | Not less than 21% |
| Cold method | Not less than 15% |
| Ethanol-soluble extracts | |
| Hot method | Not less than 4% |
| Cold method | Not less than 2% |
SAFETY TESTS
| Heavy Metals | |
| Arsenic | Not more than 5.0 mg/kg |
| Mercury | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 10.0 mg/kg |
| Cadmium | Not more than 0.3 mg/kg |
| Microbial Limits | |
| Total bacterial count | Not more than 105 cfu/g |
| Total yeast and mould count | Not more than 104 cfu/g |
| Bile-tolerant gram negative | Not more than 104 cfu/g |
| Specific Pathogens | |
| Salmonella spp. | Absent in 25 g |
| Escherichia coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Staphylococcus aureus | Absent in 1 g |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | Absent in 1 g |
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS
Chloroform extract of K. galanga rhizomes has been found to contain phenylpropanoids (e.g. ethyl cinnamate, ethyl-p-methoxy cinnamate and isopropyl cinnamate), monoterpenes (e.g. methyl isopulegone and dipentene dioxide), coumarin (e.g. 3,7-dimethoxycoumarin), dialkylketones (e.g. undecanone, 9-hydroxy-2-nonanone and 2-heptadecanone) and other miscellaneous compounds(e.g. dicyclohexyl propanedinitrile, (Z)-2,7-octadien-1-yl acetate, ethyl cyclohexyl acetate, cis-11-tetradecenyl acetate, trans,trans-octa-2,4-dienyl acetate, 10-undecyn-1-ol and camphidine) [ 6 ].
Dichloromethane extract of K. galanga rhizomes has been found to contain the phenylpropanoid(e.g.ethyl-p-methoxy cinnamate) [ 7 ].
Essential oil of K. galanga rhizomes has been found to contain monoterpenes (e.g. camphene, camphene hydrate, terpinolene, citral 2, borneol, geranyl-n-heptanoate, 1,8-cineole, δ-carene, and α-pinene), sesquiterpene (e.g. γ-cadinene), coumarin (e.g. 6-methylcoumarin), phenylpropanoids (e.g. isoeugenol, acetyl eugenol, cinnamyl isobutyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl-p-methoxy cinnamate, and salicylate) and other miscellaneous compounds (e.g. 2-cyclohexylcyclohexane, cyclohexenylcyclohexanone, allyl and n-hexyl angelate, isoamyl-hexanoate, n-hexanal, diallyl sulfide, 2-ethoxythiazole, 2-ethyl-4-methylthiazole, hexyl formate, isobutyl disulfate, 2-cyclohexyethyl acetate, isobutyl beta-2-furylacrylate, linoleoyl chloride and pentadecane) [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].
Volatile oil of K. galanga rhizomes has been found to contain phenylpropanoids (e.g. ethyl-p-methoxy cinnamate, methyl cinnamate), monoterpenes (e.g. carvone, eucalyptol) and other miscellaneous compounds (e.g. pentadecane) [ 11 ].
MEDICINAL USES
Uses described in folk medicine, not supported by experimental or clinical data
The leaves and rhizomes are chewed to treat coughs, or pounded and used in poultices or lotions applied to relieve many ailments such as sore throats, fevers, swellings, rheumatism (used hot) and sore eyes. The juice of the rhizome is also used as an expectorant and carminative and is often a part of children’s medicines especially for abdomen problem [ 12 ].
Biological and pharmacological activities supported by experimental data
Anti-allergic activity
Ethanolic extract of K. galanga rhizome (10 mg/mL) showed mild anti-allergic activity of histamine releasing mast cell line (RBL-2H3) with inhibition concentration at 50% of growth (IC50 = 78.6 μg/mL) compared to ketotifen fumarate (IC50 = 20.2 μg/mL) [ 13 ].
Aqueous extract of K. galanga rhizome (10 mg/mL) showed moderate anti-allergic activity with a RBL-2H3 cell line activity inhibition concentration at 50% of growth (IC50 = 49.5 μg/mL) compared to ketotifen fumarate (IC50 = 20.2 μg/mL) [ 13 ].
Antimicrobial activity
Essential oil of K. galanga rhizome (200 µL) showed antibacterial effect to Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus with minimum inhibition concentration at 50% (MIC = 333 µg/mL), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans with minimum inhibition concentration at 50% (MIC = 111 µg/mL) using disc diffusion method [ 14 ].
Ethanol extract of K. galanga rhizome (5 mg/disc) inhibited the growth of S. aureus with inhibition zones (21.30 ± 0.08 mm), S. faecalis (19.70 ± 0.37 mm), B. subtilis (19.70 ± 0.20 mm), B. cereus (18.40 ± 0.41 mm), E. coli (17.80 ± 0.55 mm), Enterobacter aerogens (16.20 ± 0.37 mm), Salmonella typhi (15.50 ± 0.17 mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.90 ± 0.95 mm), Vibrio cholerae (12.30 ± 0.16 mm) and P. aeruginosa (12.10 ± 0.40 mm) compared to kanamycin (30 µg/disc) (20-25 mm) using disc diffusion assay [ 15 ].
Methanol extract of K. galanga rhizome (5 mg/disc) inhibited the growth of S. aureus with inhibition zones (18.10 ± 0.30 mm), S. faecalis (16.40 ± 0.34 mm), B. subtilis (15.10 ± 0.57 mm), B. cereus (14.20 ± 0.13 mm), E. coli (12.80 ± 0.34 mm), E. aerogens (15.60 ± 0.26 mm), S. typhi (11.40 ± 0.50 mm), K. pneumoniae (12.30 ± 0.30 mm), V. cholerae (12.40 ± 0.05 mm) and P. aeruginosa (12.40 ± 0.40 mm) compared to kanamycin (30 µg/disc) (20-25 mm) using disc diffusion assay [ 15 ].
Volatile oil of K. galanga rhizome (5 mg/disc) showed antibacterial effect to S. aureus (inhibition zone = 1.46 ± 0.044 cm) and E. coli (1.33 ± 0.057 cm) compared to gentamicin (S. aureus 1.43 ± 0.044 cm, E. coli ± 1.3 cm) using disc diffusion method [ 16 ].
Antifungal activity
Ethanol extract of K. galanga rhizome (5 mg/disc) inhibited the growth of Aspergillus niger with inhibition zones (16.30 ± 0.45 mm), Aspergillus flavus (15.30 ± 0.36 mm), compared to nystatin (30 µg/disc) (23-25 mm) using disc diffusion assay [ 15 ].
Cytotoxic activity
Acetone extract of K. galanga rhizome showed dose dependent (1.25-320 µg/mL) cytotoxic activity on brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia salina) with cytotoxic dose at lethal concentration dose at 50% (LC50)of 4.78 µg/mL compared to vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.52 µg/mL) using brine shrimp lethality assay [ 17 ].
Petroleum-ether extract of K. galanga rhizome showed dose dependent (1.25-320 µg/mL) cytotoxic activity on brine shrimp nauplii (A. salina) (LC50 = 6.76 µg/mL) compared to vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.52 µg/mL) using brine shrimp lethality assay [ 17 ].
Chloroform extract of K. galanga rhizome showed dose dependent (1.25-320 µg/mL) cytotoxic activity on brine shrimp nauplii (A. salina) (LC50 = 7.24 µg/mL) compared to vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.52 µg/mL) using brine shrimp lethality assay [ 17 ].
Methanol extract of K. galanga rhizome showed dose dependent (1.25-320 µg/mL) cytotoxic activity on brine shrimp nauplii (A. salina) (LC50 = 9.77 µg/mL) compared to vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.52 µg/mL) using brine shrimp lethality assay [ 17 ].
Ethyl acetate extract of K. galanga rhizome showed cytoxicity activity on human epithelial prostate cancer cells (DU-145) with cytotoxic dose at 50% (CTC50) of 2.50 ± 0.22 µg/mL, human ovarian teratocarcinoma cells (PA-1; 5.26 ± 0.56 µg/mL), human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (SW 620; 8.53 ± 0.72 µg/mL) and mouse skin melanoma cells (B16-F10; 2.08 ± 0.03 µg/mL) compared to control vero cell (39.84 ± 1.36 µg/mL) using microtitration cytotoxic assay [ 18 ].
Petroleum ether extract of K. galanga rhizome showed toxicity on human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (SW 620) (CTC50 = 0.55 µg/mL) compared to vero cell (16.75 µg/mL) using microtitration cytotoxic assay [ 18 ].
Sedative activity
Acetone extracts and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) of K. galanga rhizome (200 mg/kg) were respectively administered orally to either male and female Swiss albino mice (aged four to five weeks old) at 30 minutes before induction of sleep using thiopental sodium. The extracts and diazepam-treated standard group (administered intraperitoneally) showed significant (p < 0.05) loss of righting reflex effect (extracts: 247.50–358.55%, diazepam: 231.42%) with decrease in latency to fall asleep (onset of sleep) (extracts: 1.28–1.89 min, diazepam: 1.36 min) and increase duration of sleep (extracts: 176.83–237.83 min, diazepam: 153.5 min) compared to water-treated control group (righting reflex effect: 100%, onset of sleep: 2.06 min, duration of sleep: 66.33 min) [ 19 ].
Acetone extracts and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) of K. galanga rhizome (100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) exhibited between 63.43% to 93.93% suppression of locomotor activity as compared to diazepam (2 mg/kg) which exhibited between 48.78% to 71.70% suppression using hole cross test [ 19 ].
Acetone extracts and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) of K. galanga rhizome (100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05-0.001) exhibited dose dependent decrease of movement with highest suppression of locomotor activity (93.71%, 92.83%, 89.33% and 89.56%), whereas the standard drug diazepam (2 mg/kg) displayed 70.58 % suppression using open field test [ 19 ].
Anti-inflammatory activity
Ethyl p-metoxycinnamate from petroleum ether extract of K. galanga rhizome (200 to 800mg/kg) administered to male Sprague Dawley rats (200-250 g) twenty-four hour before induction of inflammation using cotton-pellet significantly inhibit (p < 0.001) granuloma tissue formation in a dose dependent manner (38.98% to 51.65%) compared to indomethacin (54.35%) and dexamethasone (69.12%) [ 20 ].
Clinical studies
Information and data have not been established.
SAFETY INFORMATION
Preclinical studies (Toxicology studies)
Information and data have not been established.
Others (Adverse reaction, contraindication, side effect, warning, precaution)
Information and data have not been established.
DOSAGE
Information and data have not been established.
STORAGE
Store below 30°C. Protect from light and moisture.
REFERENCES
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- Flora of China. [Internet] Kaempferia galangal L. [cited on 5th January 2015]. Available from: http://www.eFloras.org.
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