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REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1527210
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Ethnopharmacology: 2025 View all 6 articles
Traditional usages, chemical metabolites, pharmacological activities, and pharmacokinetics of Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf.: A comprehensive review
Provisionally accepted
Yang Wang 1 Juan-Juan Wen 1 Feng Liu 1 Xiu-Juan Peng 1 Gang Xu 1
Ming-Liang Zhang 2*
Zhuang-Zhuang Huang 1*- 1 Shaanxi Institute of International Trade and Commerce, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
- 2 First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. (family Zingiberaceae), also known as fingerroot, is a medicinal and food plant that is widely distributed in southern China, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. It is a traditional herb and spice that is also known for its beneficial effects on Qi, appetite, stagnation and pain relief. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive and systematic review of the botanical characteristics, traditional applications, phytochemical metabolites, pharmacological properties, toxicology, quality control measures, pharmacokinetics, and clinical applications of B. rotunda. A bibliometric analysis of current studies on B. rotunda was also conducted to facilitate further exploration and utilization of B. rotunda in the functional food and pharmaceutical industries. These data were collected from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), doctoral and master's theses and other books and scientific databases by searching the keywords Boesenbergia rotunda. Phytochemical analysis has revealed the presence of flavonoids, monoterpenes, alkaloids, aromatic metabolites, phenols, and other metabolites in B. rotunda, exhibiting a wide range of biological activities such as anticancer, nephroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, hepatoprotective, antiobesity, and anti-oxidant effects, both in vivo and in vitro. In this paper, the research of B. rotunda is discussed in depth by combining traditional application and modern pharmacological research, aiming to provide valuable reference for the future research and practical application of B. rotunda.
Keywords: Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf, Traditional usages, Flavonoids, Anti-cancer activity, Quality control, Toxicology, Clinical settings
Received: 13 Nov 2024; Accepted: 21 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wen, Liu, Peng, Xu, Zhang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ming-Liang Zhang, First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
Zhuang-Zhuang Huang, Shaanxi Institute of International Trade and Commerce, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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