All parts of this plant are easy to appreciate! Red Ginger (Alpinia purpurata) is originally a Malaysian native but is now grown throughout the world in tropical climates for the beauty of their flowers and as cut flowers Similar to ginger, it has a growth habit with spreading rhizomes sending up stalks bearing lush green leaves and topped by a flower (with a plume of colorful bracts).
All parts of this plant—the bark, rhizome, fruit, leaves and seeds of the Red Ginger—are used medicinally. The fruit is used to treat sores, the inflorescence used to treat coughs, and a decoction of the leaves is used for digestive issues. Through scientific investigation, Red Ginger has been confirmed to have vasodilator effects, correlating with the content of phenolic compounds in extracts. Extracts of the rhizome showed wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity. The leaves were found to have antimycobacterial, as well as anti-inflammatory activity, potentially also useful for tuberculosis. Other reported activities through scientific investigation are antioxidant, anticancer, apoptotic, larvicidal, hypotensive partially mediated through nitric oxide, as well as a novel CXC Chemokine Receptor-4 Inhibitor.
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photo by Roman Odintsov