Recent Advances in Kaempferia Phytochemistry and Biological Activity: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Background: Plants belonging to the genus Kaempferia (family: Zingiberaceae) are distributed in Asia, especially in the southeast region, and Thailand. They have been widely used in traditional medicines to cure metabolic disorders, inflammation, urinary tract infections, fevers, coughs, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, abdominal and gastrointestinal ailments, asthma, wounds, rheumatism, epilepsy, and skin diseases. Objective: Herein, we reported a comprehensive review, including the traditional applications, biological and pharmacological advances, and phytochemical constituents of Kaempheria species from 1972 up to early 2019. Materials and methods: All the information and reported studies concerning Kaempheria plants were summarized from library and digital databases (e.g., Google Scholar, Sci-finder, PubMed, Springer, Elsevier, MDPI, Web of Science, etc.). The correlation between the Kaempheria species was evaluated via principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC), based on the main chemical classes of compounds. Results: Approximately 141 chemical constituents have been isolated and reported from Kaempferia species, such as isopimarane, abietane, labdane and clerodane diterpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, phenyl-heptanoids, curcuminoids, tetrahydropyrano-phenolic, and steroids. A probable biosynthesis pathway for the isopimaradiene skeleton is illustrated. In addition, 15 main documented components of volatile oils of Kaempheria were summarized. Biological activities including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticholinesterase, antioxidant, anti-obesity-induced dermatopathy, wound healing, neuroprotective, anti-allergenic, and anti-nociceptive were demonstrated. Conclusions: Up to date, significant advances in phytochemical and pharmacological studies of different Kaempheria species have been witnessed. So, the traditional uses of these plants have been clarified via modern in vitro and in vivo biological studies. In addition, these traditional uses and reported biological results could be correlated via the chemical characterization of these plants. All these data will support the biologists in the elucidation of the biological mechanisms of these plants.

Anti‐inflammatory effect of isopimarane diterpenoids from Kaempferia galanga

“…Many plants belonging to Zingiberaceae family, especially genus Kaempferia , have been reported to be the rich sources of isopimarane diterpenes (Elshamy et al, ). For example, 20 isopimarane diterpenes including 1 have been isolated from Kaempferia marginata .…”

The Potential Antioxidant Activity and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds of Stahlianthus involucratus

“…Oxidation is closely related to human diseases, and oxidation-induced damage is the most fundamental pathological process of the disease, so the exploration of natural antioxidants is vital [ 19 ]. Phenols, as natural antioxidant substances, scavenge free radicals by blocking the transmission process of free radicals and inhibit oxidative reactions by indirectly preventing the production of oxidative radicals complexing enzymes related to free radicals or metal ions [ 20 ]. This experiment provided a preliminary cognition of the antioxidant properties of S. involucratus .…”

Natural Products and Their Derivatives against Human Herpesvirus Infection

“…Then, 3 inhibited HSV-1 and 2 replications with EC50 values of 6.77 and 5.04 μM respectively, inhibited HSV immediate-early (IE) and early (E) gene expression, suppressed HSV-2-induced c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and NF-κB activation, and downregulated HSV-2-induced interleukin-8 (IL-8) and TNF-expression [49]. The combination index (CI) of 3 and acyclovir was 0.814, demonstrating a synergistic ef- Several Kaempferia species, including K. parviflora, K. pulchra, and K. galanga, have been traditionally used for the treatment of cancer, obesity, HIV, inflammation, and other pharmaceutical activities [151]. The black rhizome extract of Kaempferia parviflora was found to contain 5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone (7) [62].…”

“…Several Kaempferia species, including K. parviflora, K. pulchra, and K. galanga, have been traditionally used for the treatment of cancer, obesity, HIV, inflammation, and other pharmaceutical activities [151]. The black rhizome extract of Kaempferia parviflora was found to contain 5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone (7) [62].…”