Galangal oil

Common Name:  Galangal oil

Botanical Name:  Alpinia galangal

Other Names:  Kulanjan, Sugandha vachi, Greater galangal, Galingale, Galangal

Introduction

Galangal plant is mainly found in the Eastern Himalayas and South West India. The plant attains the height of 1.8 to 2 meters and has very deep roots which have orange brown color and aromatic smell. The roots are pungent and bitter. In India the root is widely used as its Indian name is Kulanjan. The fruits are generally 13 mm long and have three to six seeds. The aroma of the fruits is similar to the roots.

Galangal oil is also called ‘false ginger oil’. It is extracted by the process of steam distillation from the roots of the tree. The oil is volatile and has camphor like the bitter taste. It is light yellow in color and has cardamom ginger like smell. Its chemical constituents are d-pinine, cineol, mythyl-cinnamate and some amount of camphor. The composition of the chemicals differs according to the soil, method of cultivation and method of extraction of oil.

Uses of Galangal oil

Aromatherapy: It is not much used in aromatherapy and its aromatherapy properties are not much reported.

Medicinal uses: It is widely used as a medicine in indigenous system of treatment. It has been successfully used in the treatment of bronchial catarrh and rheumatism. It is very helpful in curing respiratory troubles in children. It is also used as a carminative. Recent studies have shown that Galangal oil is also helpful in curing cancer. It is found to kill cancer cells very fast.

Other uses: It is also used as a spice. Though it is not used in the modern perfumes but it is still very popular in oriental perfume formulations.