Curcuma zedoaria Rosc (Zingiberaceae): a review on its chemical, pharmacological and biological activities

Abstract

Abstract Background Around 80% of human population in the world relies on herbal or phytomedicines for their primary health care needs. The treatment of many diseases and disorders with phytomedicines is considered and observed as very safe with no or minimal side effects. Many medicinal plants and their preparations are practised at home as remedies for treating and preventing various diseases and disorders. For example, medicinal plants and their crude parts such as tulsi, neem, turmeric and ginger are used to cure or treat several common ailments, out of which Curcuma zedoaria Rosc commonly known as white turmeric is one of the important crude drugs belonging to Zingiberaceae family and genus Curcuma. Traditionally, it has been reported to possess many biological activities been used for many therapeutic actions due to the presence of wide range of phytoconstituents in it. The main objectives of the present work are to carry out extensive review on its chemical, pharmacological and biological activities of plant. Main body In the present review article, extensive data on its chemical, pharmacological and biological activities have been collected from various online sources including indexing sites such as Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and Research Gate and presented. Various articles published in indexed journals and other databases have been collected and reviewed systematically. Conclusion The present review investigation is very much helpful for researchers and readers to collectively have valuable information on chemistry, pharmacology and biological effects of Curcuma zedoaria Rosc. The present investigation concludes that the white turmeric is found to possess complex range of phytoconstituents such as curcumin, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate, β-turmerone, β-eudesmol, zingiberene, dihydrocurcumin, furanodiene, α-phellandrene, 1–8 cineole, β-elemense and germacrone. Due to the presence of wide range of phytoconstituents, plants have been reported for its diverse biological activities.