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         Kaempferia Parviflora Rhizome is the dried rhizome of Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker [K. rubromarginata (S. Q. Tong) R. J. Searle, Stahlianthus rubromarginatus S. Q. Tong] (Family Zingiberaceae), Herbarium Specimen Number: DMSC 1575, Crude Drug Number: DMSc 548.

Constituents Kaempferia Parviflora Rhizome contains volatile oil, of which borneol is major component. It also contains flavonoids, anthocyanins, etc.

Description of the plant (Figs. 1a, 1b) Herb up to 25 cm tall; rhizome, subglobose to globose, light to dark purple within, with several succulent roots in a fascicle. Leaves one to several; blades ovate or elliptic, slightly unequal sided, 7 to 20 cm long, 4 to 9 cm wide, apex acute or mucronate, base subcordate, upper surface glabrous, under surface hairy; leaf-sheaths 6 to 12 cm long, margin membranous, green or with red-tinted; bladeless sheaths greenish, purple-tinted or purple; ligule broadly triangular, about 2 mm long, membranous, caducous. Inflorescence enclosed by two innermos t leaf-sheaths or leaf-sheath and the bladeless sheath, usually elongate; peduncle 5 to 6 cm long; bract oblong, 1.7 to 2.3 cm long, about 6 mm wide, glabrous, apex rounded; bracteole linear, 6 to 12 mm long, 1 to 2 mm wide, glabrous, apex rounded. Flowers many, up to 20; calyx 1.8 to 2.2 cm long, finely hairy, apex bifid; corolla tube about 3 cm long, lobes linear; dorsal lobe about 1.2 cm long, about 3 mm wide, apex hooded, aris tate, lateral lobes slightly smaller, apex rounded; staminode white, oblong, 1 to 1.3 cm long, about 3 mm wide, apex acute or rounded. Labellum, white to light purple, darker at the base, obovate, 1.2 to 1.5 cm long, 8 to 9 mm wide, apex emarginate; stamen with very short filament, about 1 mm long, anther about 2 mm long, anther crest suborbicular, entire or emarginate, 1 to 1.5 mm long, about 2 mm wide; ovary about 2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, hairy; stylode filiform, about 5 mm long.

Description Odour, characteristic and aromatic; taste, slightly bitter.

          Macroscopical (Fig. 1a) Subglobose to globose horizontally continuous rhizomes, sometimes with roots and rootlets; outer surface slightly wrinkled, brown to dark brown, with scars of pseudostems; fracture light to dark purple, mealy. Some occur as transverse slices, varying in shape and size.

         Microscopical (Figs. 2a, 2b) Transverse section of the rhizome shows several layers of corky parenchyma cells. Cortex, broad zone of parenchyma cells, filled with numerous simple starch grains and purple anthocyanins, some of which containing yellowish oleoresins with small particles. Pseudoendodermis, layers of thin-walled rectangular cells. Vascular bundles, scattered; fibres, non-lignified; vessels, spiral, scalariform and reticulate, non-lignified.

        Kaempferia Parviflora Rhizome in powder possesses the diagnostic microscopical characters of the unground drug.

Packaging and storage Kaempferia Parviflora Rhizome shall be kept in well-closed containers, protected from light, and stored in a dry place.

Identification

          A. Reflux 1 g of the sample, in fine powder, with 20 mL of ethanol for 5 minutes and filter (solution 1). To 5 mL of solution 1, add 1 g of decolorizing charcoal, mix and filter. Add 2 drops of a freshly prepared 1 per cent w/v solution of vanillin in ethanolic sulfuric acid, mix well and heat in a water-bath for 2 minutes: a blue colour is produced.

          B. To 2 mL of solution 1, add 1 drop of a 5 per cent w/v solution of potassium hydroxide: a green to blue colour is produced and changed to red after adding 1 drop of a 20 per cent v/v solution of sulfuric acid.

          C. Apply 2 drops of solution 1 to a filter paper and air-dry. Add to the same spot, 1 drop of ethanolic ninhydrin TS and dry in a current of hot air: a violet colour develops

          D. To 2 mL of solution 1, add 1 piece of magnesium ribbon, shake well and mix with 2 drops of hydrochloric acid: a red colour develops.

          E. Carry out the test as described in the “Thin-Layer Chromatography” (Appendix 3.1), using silica gel GF254 as the coating substance and a mixture of 60 volumes of n-hexane, 30 volumes of ethyl acetate and 5 volumes of formic acid as the mobile phase and allowing the solvent front to ascend 10 cm above the line of application. Apply to the plate, 5 μL of the test solution prepared by refluxing 500 mg of the sample, in fine powder, with 10 mL of methanol for 5 minutes and filtering. Dilute the filtrate with methanol to 10 mL. After removal of the plate, allow it to dry in air and examine under ultraviolet light (254 nm), marking the quenching spots. Several blue spots also appear. Examine the plate under ultraviolet light (366 nm) through the cut-off filter, five blue fluorescent spots of different hR_f values are observed. Heat the plate at 80° for 10 minutes and then spray with natural products (NP) TS while the plate is still warm. Subsequently spray the plate with polyethyleneglycol (PEG) TS and observe the colours of the spots under ultraviolet light (366 nm) through the cut-off filter within 5 to 15 minutes. Several fluorescent spots of different colours appear (Table 1); see also Fig. 3.

Table 1 hR_f Values of Components in Methanolic Extract of the Rhizomes of Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker

Water Not more than 10.0 per cent v/w (Azeotropic Distillation Method, Appendix 4.12).

Foreign matter Not more than 2.0 per cent w/w (Appendix 7.2).

Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 2.0 per cent w/w (Appendix 7.6).

Total ash Not more than 6.0 per cent w/w (Appendix 7.7).

Ethanol-soluble extractive Not less than 8.0 per cent w/w (Appendix 7.12).

Water-soluble extractive Not less than 17.0 per cent w/w (Appendix 7.12).