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Review
. 2021 Oct 19:12:675350.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.675350. eCollection 2021.

Kaempferia galanga L.: Progresses in Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Ethnomedicinal Uses

Si-Yu Wang  1   2 , Hui Zhao  3 , Hong-Tao Xu  4 , Xiao-Dong Han  1 , Yun-Shan Wu  1   2 , Fang-Fang Xu  1   2 , Xiao-Bo Yang  1   5   6 , Ulf Göransson  7 , Bo Liu  1   2   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Kaempferia galanga L.: Progresses in Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Ethnomedicinal Uses

Si-Yu Wang et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

K. galanga is an aromatic medicinal herb. It is locally to India and distributed in China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. K. galanga is a Traditional Chinese Herb Medicine (TCHM), which has been applied to treat cold, dry cough, toothaches, rheumatism, hypertension and so on. In addition, it has been used widely as spices since its highly aromas. The aim of this review is to compile and update the current progresses of ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of K. galanga. All the data on K. galanga were based on different classical literary works, multiple electronic databases including SciFinder, Web of Science, PubMed, etc. The results showed that ninety-seven compounds have been identified from rhizome of K. galanga, including terpenoids, phenolics, cyclic dipeptides, flavonoids, diarylheptanoids, fatty acids and esters. Modern pharmacology studies revealed that extracts or secondary metabolites of the herb possessed anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-tumorous, anti-bacterial, and anti-angiogenesis effects, which were closely related to its abundant ethnomedicinal uses. In conclusion, although previous research works have provided various information of K. galanga, more in-depth studies are still necessary to systemically evaluate phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, toxicity and quality control of this herb.

Keywords: Kaempferia galanga L.; ethnomedicinal uses; pharmacology; phytochemistry; toxicology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Primary reactions and constituents supporting various biological effects of K. galanga. The TCHM shows antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-sunburn, antimicrobial, vasodilatory, anti-angiogenic and anti-osteoporosis activities, et al. Multiple types of constituents (see Table 3) are contributed to such evident pharmacological profiles of this plant.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Chemical structures of main volatile components in K. galanga.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Structures of terpenoids isolated from K. galanga.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Structures of phenolics isolated from K. galanga.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Structures of cyclic dipeptides and flavonoids isolated from K. galanga.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Structures of diarylheptanoids, fatty acids and esters isolated from K. galanga.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Structures of polysaccharides and other compounds isolated from K. galanga.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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