Botanical name : Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe
Family : Zingiberaceae
SANSKRIT SYNONYMS
Karchura, Peetatugaksheeri, Draavida, Palaashi, Gandhmoolaka,
AYURVEDIC PROPERTIES
Rasa : Tikta, Madhura
Guna : Lakhu, Snigdha
Virya : Ushna
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : Zedoary Root, Wild turmeric
Hindi : Jungali haldi, Ban haldi
Malayalam : Manjakoova, Kastoori manjal (misnomer)
Unani : Zarambaad
Distribution
Throughout India, growing wild, also cultivated.
PLANT DESCRIPTION
A rhizomatous perennial herb grows up to 1 meter. Leaves elliptic or oblong- lanceolate, about 50 cm long with long petiole; Dark violet streak along the midrib is the classical discriminative property of the plant. Flowers pinkish yellow, seen in inflorescence with pinkish showy bracts. Fruits globose, dehiscent trilobate capsules.
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Plant pacifies vitiated pitta, kapha, indigestion, flatulence, dyspepsia, skin diseases, cough, bronchitis, urinary retention, allergy, leucoderma, and as general tonic. The rhizomes are a source of Shoti Starch, used as a food for babies and convalescents, recovering from chronic stomatitis. It is cooling and demulcent. This plant is an adulterant of the plant Curcuma aromatica.
Useful part : Rhizome
CHEMICAL CONTENTS
Dried rhizomes contains a number of terpenoids, including curcumene, curcumenone, curdione, curcumenol. Curzerenone, furanogermenone, germacrone, germacrone epoxide; a volatile oil (0.1–1.5%) resembling ginger oil, and starch (50%). Zedoary is thought to stimulate bile production (due to sesquiterpene ketones) and gall bladder emptying (due to cucuminoid constituents). The sesquiterpenes, germacrone, germacrone epoxide, curzerenone and curcumenol showed CNS depressant properties. Curzerenone also showed a potent protective effect against induced lesions in rats. Both curzerenone and curcumenol showed a moderate analgesic action. Theterpenoid furanogermenone exhibits antiallergic activity. (Powdered zedoary, mixed with fructose, is used as an antiallergant in Japan.)
Curcumenol and curdione are shown to possess tumour-inhibiting property.The rhizome is used in China for extradural haematomas and certain types of tumours. It has been reported in China that zedoary reduced cervical cancer and increased the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The volatile oil of zedoary exhibits antimicrobial and antifungal activity. The antifungal constituent of the oil has been reported as methyl-p-methoxycinnamate.
Dosage _ Dried rhizome—1–3 g powder. (Ayurveda pharmacopoeia of India)
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