Galangal

The following is a quote from "The seven books of Paulus Aegineta, Volume 3" by Paulus (Aegineta.), Francis Adams (1847)

Hhases calls it stomachic. (Antid. iii.) Serapion having described it, upon the authority of Isaac ebn Amram says of it, that it is hot and dry in the third degree, is useful to phlegmatic persons, and in humidity of the stomach (waterbrash ?); promotes digestion by its heat and the solution which it occasions in the stomach, and thus relieves colic, gives fragrance to the breath, and warms the kidneys: it sets the semen in commotion, and when a piece of it is held in the mouth, it occasions erections of the membrum virile. The same virtues in the same cases are assigned to it by Aben Mesuai, and also Aben Mesabah, who recommends it in flatulent colic and eructations. (De Simpl. 332.) Avicenna, having described it, delivers the same account of its medicinal powers as Serapion, that is to say, he holds it to be hot and dry in the second degree, of subtile parts and carminative, says that it renders the breath fragrant, is good for the stomach, promotes digestion, is useful in colic and pains of the kidneys, and is aphrodisiacal. (ii, 2, 314; v, 2, 6.)

The same account of it is given by " the Son of Mesue," in the ' Continens' of Rhases (1. ult. i, 323.) In the pharmaceutical work of Myrepsus there is an " antidotua a Galanga," which is said to be beneficial in affections of the stomach and spleen, and in indigestion; also for singultus. acidity of the food in the stomach, cachexia, dropsy, and coldness of the whole body : it contains cloves, ginger, cinnamon, galangal, &c. (i, 63; also, 222.) Ebn Baithar ascribes the same virtues to it as Serapion ; thus he says it is a wonderful aphrodisiac, promotes digestion, cures colic, is carminative, and so forth. Although now little used, galangal root is not yet wholly unknown to the writers on the Materia Medica. Dr. Pereira says of " radix galanga officinalis; its odour is agreeably aromatic, its taste peppery and aromatic. It is the rhizome of the Alpinia Galanga Roxb." (Mat. Med. 698.) See also Lewis (Mat. Med. 452); Hill (Mat. Med. i, 447); Quincy (72); Gray (Suppl. to the Pharmacop. 26) j Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 166.) There are two species of galangal, which Dr. Lindley refers to the alpinia racemosa and galanga. He says of them, " the warm and pungent roots of the greater and lesser galangals are not only used by the Indian doctors, but are considered useful in coughs, given in infusion." (Ibid.) On the Galangal see further Ainslie (Mat. Ind., i, 140.)

Galangal - Scientific Studies

One found: A 2006 study at the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka found that oral administration of a hot water extract of Alpinia calcarata Roscoe (syn. galangal [2] ) "indicates a strong aphrodisiac action" on male rats. [3] Reading the details of the abstract I was confused by the information presented as it appeared contradictory. (?)

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Sources:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galangal
[2] http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-science/nutrition-research/learning-center/plant-profiler/alpinia-galanga.html
[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16646522

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