Galanga

A member of the ginger family, galanga is also known as the galgant-spice lily, resurrection lily, and hinguru-piyali. It is found in the tropical regions of Africa and in Southeast Asia. The very aromatic rootstock (rhizome), which often looks like a hand and is usually referred to as maraba, is used throughout the range of the plant as a spice and as a remedy for treating digestive ailments. Kaempferia has a strong, refreshing taste. In Malaysia, the root formerly was added to an arrow poison made with Antiaris toxicaria (Schultes and Hofmann 1995,47*). Kaempferia galanga is one of the ingredients in the Indonesian spice mixture known as jamu (Rehm 1985) and is the main ingredient in those mixtures that are produced for tonic and aphrodisiac purposes (Macmillan 1991, 424*). In Japan, the root is sometimes used in the manufacture of incense. In Thailand, the root and young leaves are added· to curries. The crushed root, mixed with whiskey (cf. alcohol), is applied as a paste to the forehead and scalp as a folk medicine for treating headaches (Jacquat 1990, 117). The inhabitants of the area around Mount Hagen (Papua New Guinea) supposedly use or once used the rhizome as a hallucinogen, similar to Homalomena spp. (Barrau 1962). "The root is used as a spice and inebriant throughout all of Southeast Asia.... The rhizome induces hallucinations (without any side-effects)" (Bremness 1994, 180*). A European report states that ingestion of the powdered root produces "a surprising clarity of thought and alterations in vision" (Schuldes 1995,46*). The rootstock is rich in essential oils, the composition of which is unknown. It may contain psychoactive substances (Schultes and Hofmann 1992, 47*). Reports following ingestion of the powder often indicate mild or even no effects (Schuldes 1995, 95*). This may be due to the fact that the experimenters did not use genuine Kaempferia roots, for galanga is a name that has produced much confusion. Another member of the ginger family, galgant (Alpinia officinarum Hance [syn. Languas officinarum]), is known by the name galanga or little galanga. It too is used as a spice (Norman 1991, 64*). In Germany, Alpinia galanga (1.) Willd. [syn. Galanga major Rumpf., Maranta galanga 1., Languas galanga Sw.] is known by the name large galanga root, and Alpinia officinarum by the name little galanga root (Jacquat 1990, 118; Norman 1991,45*; Seidemann 1993, 180*).

Literature Barrau, Jacques. 1962. Observations et travaux recents sur les vegetaux hallucinogens de la Nouvelle-Guinee. Journal d'Agriculture Tropicale et de Botanique Appliquee 9:245-49. Jacquat, Christiane. 1990. Plants from the markets of Thailand. Bangkok: Editions Duang Kamol. Rehm, Klaus D. 1985. Jamu-die traditionellen Arzneimittel Indonesiens. Curare, Sonderband 3/85:403-10.