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

Popular Posts

Señorita banana (Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita')

Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata) Red banana (Musa acuminata AAA Group 'Red Dacca' Saba banana (Musa acuminata ABB Group 'Saba') Pisang mas or señorita banana ( Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita') is a cultivar in Musaceae, a banana with a cylindrical shape and bright yellow skin when ripe, one of the banana cultivars with the shortest fruit and has small seeds or no seeds. M. acuminata (AA Group) 'Señorita' emerged from a completely buried tuber. Stem formed as a pseudostem with heaps of leaf sheaths and succulent, soft, up to 2.5 m high, 42 cm girth at 1 m high. The pseudo stem is green and shiny with a pink-purple base color. The leaf blade is elongated, waxy with a stalk that is sometimes bordered from pink-purple to red, 120 cm long, 45 cm wide and impermeable. The inflorescences hang vertically with red-purple bracts which are yellow or green on the inner surface. Yellow male flowers. The plants start to flower about 231 days after planting....

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium