Skip to main content

Temu kunci (Boesenbergia rotunda)

Dlium Temu kunci (Boesenbergia rotunda)

Temukunci or fingerroot (Boesenbergia rotunda) is a species in the Zingiberaceae, grows upright up to 80 cm, vertical roots, spices and rhizomes are used as seasonings in cooking, grows in rain forests, slopes, agricultural land and wastelands up to elevation 1000 meters.

B. rotunda has a strong rhizome, bright yellow, elongated ovoid and very flavorful. Each individual has 3-4 leaves, the midrib is red, the ligula has 2 indentations and is 5 mm long.





The petioles are 20 cm long and form a linear canal. Leaves green on both surfaces, elliptical pointed tip, 25-50 cm long and 7-17 cm wide. Terminal compound flowers on pseudo stems, emerging from the midrib, 3-7 cm long and fragrant. Tapered sheath with a size of 4-5 cm. Petals 1.5–2 cm and ends split. Crown forms a tube, 4.5-5.5 cm long, lobes 1.5-2 cm long.

Lateral staminodia are pale pink and 1.5 cm long. The labellum is white or bright red with purple stripes, 2–3.5 cm long and concave. Short stamen, 2 branches and 1-3 mm.

Temu Kunci grows wild in the tropics with lowlands and in dense teak forests up to 1000 meters elevation. Flowering January-February and April-June. Grows well in hot and humid climates on fertile soil, good air and water.

This species is used as a spice in the kitchen and traditional medicine which is useful as a sputum laxative or cough suppressant, farting, appetite enhancer, curing canker sores and booster breast milk.

Rhizome essential oil has an effect on the growth of Entamoeba coli, Staphylococus aureus and Candida albicans. In vitro calcium kidney stone dissolving. This plant works as an antibacterial, antiparasitic, treats oral infections, intestinal infections, antioxidants, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and helps obese patients.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Subfamily: Zingiberoideae
Tribe: Zingibereae
Genus: Boesenbergia Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 685 (1891)
Species: Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. in Kulturpflanze 6: 239 (1958)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Curcuma rotunda L. in Sp. Pl.: 2 (1753)
Gastrochilus rotundus (L.) Alston in H.Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 6(Suppl.): 281 (1931)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Boesenbergia baimaii Saensouk & K.Larsen in Nordic J. Bot. 21: 595 (2001 publ. 2002)
Boesenbergia cochinchinensis (Gagnep.) Loes. in H.G.A.Engler, Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2. 15a: 571 (1930)
Boesenbergia isanensis Saensouk & P.Saensouk in J. Jap. Bot. 95: 65 (2020)
Boesenbergia pandurata (Roxb.) Schltr. in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 12: 316 (1913)
Gastrochilus panduratus (Roxb.) Ridl. in J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 32: 114 (1899)
Kaempferia cochinchinensis Gagnep. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 54: 165 (1907)
Kaempferia ovata Roscoe in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 351 (1807)
Kaempferia pandurata Roxb. in Asiat. Res. 11: 328 (1810)

PUBLICATIONS

Amy Yap Li Ching, Tang Sook Wah, Mohd Aspollah Sukari, Gwendoline Ee Cheng Lian, Mawardi Rahmani & Kaida Khalid (2007). Characterization of flavonoid derivatives from Boesenbergia rotunda (L.). Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences 1: 154-159.

Contu, S. (2009). Boesenbergia rotunda. Assessment using IUCN Categories and Criteria 3.1 (IUCN 2001). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Delin Wu & Larsen, K. (2010). Zingiberaceae. In: Flora of China.

Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Govaerts, R. (1996). World Checklist of Seed Plants 2(1, 2): 1-492. MIM, Deurne.

Ibrahim, H. & Nugroho, A. (1999). Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. In: Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 13. Spices, eds C. C. de Guzman & J. S. Siemonsma, pp. 83-85. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Larsen, K. (1996). A prelimanary checklist of the Zingiberaceae of Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 24: 35-49.

Ling Jing Jing, Mohamed, M., Rahmat, A. & Abu Bakar, M. F. (2010). Phytochemicals, antioxidant properties and anticancer investigations of the different parts of several gingers [sic] species ( Boesenbergia rotunda, Boesenbergia pulchella var [sic] attenuata and Boesenbergia armeniaca). Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 4: 27-32.

Mostaph, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Nguyen, Q.B. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 21: 1-489. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (2010). The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

VERNACULAR NAME

Ambon: Tumu kunci
Bima: Dumu kunci
Buru: Sun
English: Fingerroot, Temukunci, Lesser Galangal
Haruku: Aruhu Konci
Indonesian: Temu kunci, Temukunci
Javanese: Kunci
Madura: Konce
Makasar: Tamu konci
Seram: Rutu kakuzi
Sumatera: koncih
Ternate: Tamputi

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Black jumping spider (Hyllus diardi)

Black jumping spider ( Hyllus diardi ) is an animal species in the Salticidae, black and white spiders, long hair, round head, elongated belly, relatively small, arboreal, perched on leaves in bushes and low trees in forests and agricultural lands. H. diardi has black and white color, shiny surface and white hair all over the body. The head is round, shiny black with a linear white line in the middle. Black eyes on the front of the head. The stomach has an elongated, jointed, black cylindrical shape with black plots at the top of each segment. The legs are long, segmented, shiny black or brownish in color and hairy. Black jumping spiders live arboreal, perch on leaf surfaces, low bushes, trees in forests, agricultural land, roadsides and shade. Very sensitive to human presence and will hide behind leaves to avoid sight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Suborder: Araneomorphae Infraorder: Entelegynae Superfamily: Salticoi...
Read more

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

Hairy senna ( Senna hirsuta ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is an upright shrub, growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The leaves are compound on petioles up to 13 cm long. They usually have 2-6 pairs of leaflets, are egg-shaped, and have white hairs, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and arranged at the tips of branches and in the upper leaf axils in clusters of 2-5. The petals are 12-16 mm long, have 6 stamens, 3-8 mm long anthers, and 4 staminodes. Flowering occurs almost monthly. The pods are cylindrical, up to 15 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, and curved. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Tribe: Cassieae Subtribe: Cassiinae Genus: Senna Mill. in Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4.: [s.p.] (1754) Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby in Phytologia 44: 499 (1979) Variety: Senna hirsuta var. acuminata (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Senna ...
Read more

Water strider (Ptilomera tigrina)

Water strider ( Ptilomera tigrina ) is an animal species in Gerridae, a predatory insect that spends time on the surface of fast water with back and forth movements with a speed of up to 1.5 m/s to float and is very easily recognized by its habit of always walking and jumping on around water. P. tigrina has an elongated, dark cylindrical body with several bright or silvery white parts. A pair of big eyes at the tip of the head. The stomach has joints and tapers towards the back. A pair of antennae is very long with several joints and stick-shaped legs. The forelegs pair have three sections with two joints and the first is slightly thickened. The second and third pairs of legs are several times the length of the body. Water strider has a very fast movement on the surface of the water to float and target prey near the surface. This species is a model in biophysical research regarding the ability to float on the surface and the ability to move forward quickly. The buoyancy originates f...
Read more