Radical scavenging activities of Kaempferia larsenii Sirirugsa extract and prominent flavonoids in its rhizomes

Medicinal plants of the genus Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) have long been valued in Thailand, where their fresh rhizomes, extracts and oils are utilized for traditional medicinal purposes. While the well-known Kaempferia plants, particularly K. galanga and K. parviflora have been scientifically proven to be effective medicinal herbs in antioxidative investigations and in a variety of pharmacological activities, K. larsenii, one of the members of this genus that is found in northeastern Thailand and has long been used by local practitioners for curative purposes, has never had the chemical constituents and antioxidant activity reported before. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the antioxidant capacity of the plant and the active chemical components accountable for its action. K. larsenii rhizome extract was subjected to a number of antioxidative tests, including 2,2?-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, as well as HPLC analyses. The HPLC method used a ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18 column, a 1 mL/min flow rate of methanol and 0.1% (v/v) phosphoric acid (55:45) and a diode-array UV absorbance at 265 nm as the stationary phase, mobile phase and detection respectively. In the investigated assays, the plant extract exhibited remarkable antioxidant activity, with EC50 values ranging from 11.60 to 26.31 µg/mL. Its efficacy was significantly higher than that of the positive controls, which had EC50 values ranging from 13.08 to 29.91 µg/mL. According to the HPLC profile of the extract, the medicinal flavonoids kaempferol and quercetin were present in the sample at % of 12.7562 and 0.4976 (w/w) respectively. K. larsenii rhizome extract is a good source of antioxidants and has the potential to be incorporated into herbal medicinal preparations that would be beneficial for health

Phylogenetic relationships of Kaempferia plants based on inter-simple sequence repeat fingerprints

Plants in genus Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) have been used as folk medicine in several countries. Identification and classification of Kaempferia plants are difficult because of the morphological similarity between species. In this study, phylogenetic relationships of Kaempferia species were employed by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fingerprints. Ten ISSR primers of 45 ISSR primers produced 186 bands with an average 19 bands per primer. The similarity index (SI) ranged from 0.0023-0.9950. A dendrogram was constructed using unweighted pair-group method of the arithmetic average (UPGMA). The results showed that the Kaempferia species could be divided into two main groups. The phylogenetic relationships were associated with the morphological characteristics

Combination of selected Thai traditional pain relief medicinal plants with anti-inflammatory abilities in a protein denaturation assay

Crateva adansonii DC, Maerua siamensis (Kurz) Pax, and Mallotus repandus (Willd.) Müll. Arg. have long been used as ingredients in compound herbal medicines to relieve pain in Thailand. In this study, an albumin denaturation inhibition experiment was used to assess the anti-inflammatory properties of the ethanolic extracts of these plants and their mixture. Lupeol, the active molecule responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity, was chosen as a chemical marker for the extracts. All plant extracts demonstrated anti-inflammatory potential. Their IC50 values ranged from 1.19 to 7.31 mg/mL. This blend showed the strongest anti-inflammatory effect, with a 0.5-fold increase in activity when compared to diclofenac. Lupeol, an anti-inflammatory agent, is one of the chemical constituents of the selected medicinal plants. Its content ranged from 0.04 to 8.60% w/w, as determined by HPLC in this study. It means that the plants, alone and in combination, are a good source of herbs for further pharmacological study and product development