Botanical description
Perennial herbaceous plant, about two meters high. Its leaves are large, with white and red flowers. The young galangal is characterized by its sweet aroma and spicy taste. There are several types of galangal, such as the small galangal or what is known as the eye, the white galangal, and the large or red galangal. There are other types that are used only for decoration due to the beauty of its flowers and the sustainability of its greenery. Some of these types are made of writing paper, while others are eaten or cooked. And the little galangal that is known scientifically is the medical type.
Medical uses
The used part of the plant is the rhizomes, which somewhat resemble the rhizomes of the sedge plant. They are reddish in color and covered with large, pale sheaths that leave scars on the rhizomes when they fall. The rhizomes have an aromatic smell.
home country
It is native to the herbal areas of southern China and southeast Asia in general. It is currently grown as a spice and medicine in many parts of tropical Asia. It is usually grown by dividing the rhizomes and replanting them in the spring. They are not collected until after 4 to 6 years from the date of planting the plant. Galangal is used fresh or dried. Chemical contents: Young galangal rhizomes contain volatile oil at a rate of 1-5%. This oil contains vapainin, cineol, linanool, camphor and methyl cinnarate. Galangal also contains monoterpene lactones such as galangol and galangin.
Young galangal in ancient medicine
The Arabs used galangal since ancient times, as they used to feed their horses with it to increase the temperature, and they drank it boiled with milk against cold and cough and to strengthen the immune system.
Ibn Sina says:
Characteristics: Twisted strips of red and black, sharp in taste, with a good smell, light in weight, brought from China. Maserjoyeh said: He is Khosrodar himself. Verbs and Adjectives: Gentle analyzer of wind. Garnish: good flavour. Food organs: good for the stomach, digesting food. The members of the jerk: it is useful for colic and kidney pain, and it helps in bloating, and its weight is replaced by cloves cinnamon. David of Antioch said about galangal: “It is hot and dry, and its strength remains for seven years. It dissolves wind, opens pores and appetite, digests and analyzes joints, women’s sweat, fetal and back pain, and drinking it with milk, especially mutton’s milk, restores the strength of youth.”
Galangal was introduced to Europe
In the nineteenth century, the German administrator Hildegard of Bingen considered it as the spice of life that God gave us to ward off disease. It has been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years, where they use it to warm the body and against abdominal pain, vomiting and hiccups, as well as diarrhea caused by an internal cold. Usually, when the Chinese use it against hiccups, they mix it with cardamom and fir mushrooms. In India and Southwest Asia, young galangal is considered a stomach tonic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, and nervous tonic. It is used in the treatment of hiccups, satiety, stomach pain, arthritis, and intermittent fever. As for Western herbal medicine, the young galangal was introduced to Europe by Arab physicians more than 1000 years ago, where it is mainly used there as a carminative, for indigestion, vomiting, stomach pain, and as a soothing for painful oral sores and gingivitis, as well as for the treatment of seasickness.
And what did modern medicine say about the little galangal
Chinese research has proven that galangal is antibacterial, as it has actually been shown that young galangal has an antibacterial effect against a number of germs, including anthrax, and has also been shown to be effective against fungi, as research published in 1988 indicates that young galangal is very effective against Candida albicans and in Russia prepared from galangal a medical preparation under the name Nastoika, a drink used to warm the body. It has been shown that young galangal has a tonic effect on the digestive system, warming, gas repellent, and anti-emetic. The therapeutic dose of young galangal ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 grams per day. And to treat indigestion and get rid of stomach gases
the use
Young galangal powder is used by taking a teaspoonful of rhizome powder and adding it to filling a cup of boiling water and leaving it for ten minutes, then filtering and drinking at a rate of once a day. Galangal powder can also be used inhalation by adding it to hot water and then inhaling the rising steam in order to reduce the severity of colds and colds. Quoted from the newspaper Monday 1 Shaaban 1426 AH - September 5, 2005 AD - Issue 13587 To strengthen the mind and the body, fight diseases and avoid weakness and lethargy: I did not find a stimulant for the body like ginger sweetened with honey, and as for eating jam with honey with pistachios and galangal, Daoud al-Antaky says in his reminder: “There is a great secret in it ». A paste that strengthens the body, treats forgetfulness, opens up the ulcers of the brain, and makes the soul happy and refreshed. Ingredients: 100 grams of ground ginger + 100 grams of ground pistachios + 50 grams of ground galangal + 50 grams of crushed black seed + bee honey. Bee honey is cooked on a low heat and its foam is removed, then the previous things are added and stirred well until it is knotted like candy, packed in a glass jar, and eaten with a spoon after breakfast, and a spoon after dinner daily.