Algae and Plants
89
Alpingia galanga (L.) (Willd.)
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Common name: Blue ginger, Thai
ginger.
Distribution: Native to South Asia
and Indonesia; Malaysia, Laos, and
Thailand.
Habitat: Wetlands.
Description: It is a perennial herb with
adventitious roots. Rhizomes are cylindrical, branched, and 2–8 cm in diameter. These rhizomes are longitudinally
ridged with prominent warts marked
with fine annulations. Scaly leaves
arranged circularly, extremely reddish
brown, and internally orange-yellow.
Rhizome of this species has edible and
medicinal values (Chudiwal et al., 2010).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition of Shoot (% DM)
Fat
CHO a
Protein
1.0
4.4
2.6
a Carbohydrate.
Minerals (% or mg/100 g DM)
P
(%)
N2
(%)
K
(%)
Na
(%)
Fe
(mg)
Mg
(mg)
Cu
(mg)
Zn
(mg)
0.58 0.40 0.33 0.02 1.25 3.10 0.03 0.45
Source: Data from Jain et al. (2011).