Description

Alpinia galanga, greater galangal, is a large, robust perennial herb of the family Zingiberaceae, native to southeastern Asia — principally Java, Sumatra, and Malaysia — now cultivated across the Indian subcontinent, southern China, and tropical Africa. The large, branching rhizome carries a distinctive spicy, peppery, pine-camphor fragrance that distinguishes it from the smaller Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal). Documented in Ayurveda as Kulanjana and in Unani pharmacopoeia as Khulanjan, the rhizome is cited in the Charaka Samhita and various Unani texts for formulations associated with respiratory health, digestive stimulation, and joint and rheumatic conditions. An essential culinary spice in Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian cookery, it is also a component of classical compound preparations including Hingwashtak Churna.