Alpinia officinarum

Alpinia officinarum Hance (galanga) is a perennial ginger family plant. Galanga has been traditionally used for many years to treat several different diseases including cold, pain, inflammation, stomach ache, and microbial infection, and it also works as an antioxidant and anticancer agent. Different parts of A. officinarum have been used either directly or by processing through different methods for treatment. Plant parts like rhizomes, leaves, aerial parts, and roots of galanga were extracted both in polar and nonpolar solvents to induce the disease control property. Flavonoid extract of this plant is more effective in all kinds of disease. This chapter summarizes the application of A. officinarum in curing different diseases from microbial infection to neural disease. Our main focus in this chapter is on the mechanism of galanga on curing Alzheimer disease.