''Etlingera elatior'' (also known as torch ginger, ginger flower, red ginger lily, torch lily, wild ginger, ''combrang, bunga kantan'', Philippine wax flower, ගොඩ ඕලු (goda olu), ගොඩ නෙලුම් (goda nelum), සිද්ධාර්ථ (siddartha), 火炬姜 (), Indonesian tall ginger, ''boca de dragón, rose de porcelaine'', and porcelain rose) is a species of
herbaceous perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
.
Botanical synonyms include ''Nicolaia elatior'',
[Riffle, Robert Lee (1998). ''The tropical look: an encyclopedia of dramatic landscape plants'', Timber Press, , p. 167] ''Phaeomeria magnifica'',
''Nicolaia speciosa'', ''Phaeomeria speciosa'', ''Alpinia elatior'', and ''Alpinia magnifica.''
The showy pink flowers are used in decorative arrangements, ''bunga kecombrang'', and are an important ingredient across Southeast Asia. In North Sumatra (especially among the
Karo people), the flower buds are used for a stewed fish dish called ''Arsik ikan mas'' (Andaliman/Szechuan pepper-spiced carp). In Bali, people use the white part of the bottom part of the trunk for cooking chilli sauce called "Sambal Bongkot", and use the flower buds to make chilli sauce called "Sambal Kecicang". In Thailand, it is eaten in a kind of
Thai salad
Salads that are internationally known as Thai salads with a few exceptions fall into four main preparation methods. In Thai cuisine these are called ''yam, tam, lap'' and ''phla''. A few other dishes can also be regarded as being a salad.
Overvi ...
preparation. In Malaysia, the flower is an essential ingredient in cooking the fish broth for a kind of spicy sour noodle soup called "''Asam Laksa''" (AKA "''Penang Laksa''"), in the preparation of a kind of salad called ''Kerabu'' and many other Malay dishes''.'' The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is also used in Indonesian cooking.
In
Karo, it is known as ''asam cekala'' (''asam'' meaning 'sour'), and the flower buds, but more importantly the ripe seed pods, which are packed with small black seeds, are an essential ingredient of the Karo version of ''
sayur asam'', and are particularly suited to cooking fresh fish. In
Sundanese, it is known as ''Honje''.
Chemistry
From the leaves of ''E. elatior'', three
caffeoylquinic acids, including
chlorogenic acid
Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of caffeic acid and (−)-quinic acid, functioning as an intermediate in lignin biosynthesis. The term "chlorogenic acids" refers to a related polyphenol family of esters, including hydroxycinnamic acids ( caf ...
(CGA), and three
flavonoids,
quercitrin
Quercitrin is a glycoside formed from the flavonoid quercetin and the deoxy sugar rhamnose.
Austrian chemist Heinrich Hlasiwetz (1825-1875) is remembered for his chemical analysis of quercitrin.
Occurrence
Quercitrin is a constituent of the ...
,
isoquercitrin
Isoquercetin, isoquercitrin or isotrifoliin is a flavonoid, a type of chemical compound. It is the 3-''O''-glucoside of quercetin. Isoquercitrin can be isolated from various plant species including ''Mangifera indica'' (mango) and ''Rheum nobile'' ...
and
catechin
Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids.
The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tanni ...
, have been isolated.
[Chan, E.W.C. (2009). “Bioactivities and chemical constituents of leaves of some ''Etlingera'' species (Zingiberaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia”. Ph.D. thesis, Monash University, 305 p., http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/149589 ] Content of CGA was significantly higher than flowers of ''Lonicera japonica'' (Japanese honeysuckle), the commercial source.
A protocol for producing a standardized herbal extract of CGA from leaves of ''E. elatior'' (40%) has been developed, compared to commercial CGA extracts from honeysuckle flowers (25%).
Gallery
Similar species
* ''
Alpinia galanga
''Alpinia galanga'', a plant in the ginger family, bears a rhizome used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Arab cuisine and Southeast Asian cookery. It is one of four plants known as " galangal". Its common names include ...
''
* ''
Curcuma longa
Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...
''
* ''
Etlingera fulgens
''Etlingera fulgens'' is a species of herbaceous perennial plant of the family Zingiberaceae. This species occurs in southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia.Lim, C.K. (2000). "Taxonomic notes on Etlingera Giseke (Zingiberaceae) in Peninsular Ma ...
''
* ''
Etlingera maingayi
''Etlingera maingayi'', the Malay rose, is a species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plant in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. This species occurs in southern Thailand, where its flowers are eaten as vegetables, and Malaysia. It grows along ...
''
* ''
Kaempferia galanga''
See also
*
Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
One of the major human migration events was the maritime settlement of the islands of the Indo-Pacific by the Austronesian peoples, believed to have started from at least 5,500 to 4,000 BP (3500 to 2000 BCE). These migrations were accompanied ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3442435
elatior
Taxa named by Rosemary Margaret Smith