Alpinia Zerumbet - Uses

Uses

The plant's long leaf blades are still used for wrapping zongzi. In Okinawa, Japan, A. zerumbet is known in the local dialect as Sannin, or in Japanese as Getto (ゲットウ). Its leaves are sold as herbal tea and are also used to flavour noodles and wrap mochi rice cakes. Its tea has hypotensive, diuretic and antiulcerogenic properties. Decoction of leaves has been used during bathing to alleviate fevers.. The leaves and rhizomes have been proven effective against HIV-1 integrase and neuraminidase enzymes, and has also shown anti-diabetic effect through inhibitions of formation of advanced glycation end products. Besides, the antioxidant activities of different parts of Alpinia zerumbet has already been reported.