Curcuma zanthorrhiza Roxb.- syn. Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. -Zingiberaceae - javan turmeric, javan ginger, Javanische Gelbwurz

„The rhizome contains an ethereal oil (5ml per kg), it primarily consists of Sesquiterpenes. There is also a content of Curcumin (at least 1%, Ph. Eur.) and starch. Curcuma zanthorrhiza is used for dyspepsia. It is a spice too.“ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcuma_xanthorrhiza

„The rhizomes of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb, are used in Indonesian folk medicine as cholagogues, aromatic stomachics, analgesics, a rheumatic remedy, etc. The present study was carried out to elucidate the antiinflammatory effect of the methanol extract obtained from these rhizomes and its active principles. The methanol extract was partitioned between ether and water, and then the ether-soluble fraction was extracted with n-hexane. The n-hexane-soluble fraction was chromatographed (fr. I-IV), fr. II was rechromatographed (fr. V-VII), and then fr. V was rechromatographed (fr. VIII-X) by silica gel column chromatography. The antiinflammatory activity of these fractions was investigated on carrageenin-induced edema in rats and acetic acid-induced vascular permeability as well as the writhing symptom in mice. The methanol extract (p.o.) showed both an antiinflammatory activity and an analgesic activity and these activities shifted successively to the ether-soluble fraction, the n-hexane-soluble fraction, fr. II, V and IX. The chemical structure of fr. IX was identified as germacrone. These results suggest that the antiinflammatory action of Curcuma xanthorrhiza is the result of the germacrone that it contains. “
[Antiinflammatory effect of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb, and its active principles., Ozaki, Y., Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Vol.38(4), 1990, 1045-1048]

germacrone

„… germacrone, which is a major component of the essential oils extracted from Rhizoma Curcuma, was found to inhibit influenza virus replication. Germacrone showed antiviral activity against the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses and the influenza B virus in a dose-dependent manner. The viral protein expression, RNA synthesis and the production of infectious progeny viruses were decreased both in MDCK and A549 cells treated with germacrone. In a time-of-addition study, germacrone was found to exhibit an inhibitory effect on both the attachment/entry step and the early stages of the viral replication cycle. Germacrone also exhibited an effective protection of mice from lethal infection and reduced the virus titres in the lung. Furthermore, the combination of germacrone and oseltamivir exhibited an additive effect on the inhibition of influenza virus infection, both in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that germacrone may have the potential to be developed as a therapeutic agent alone or in combination with other agents for the treatment of influenza virus infection.“
[Germacrone inhibits early stages of influenza virus infection., Liao, Q., Qian, Z., Liu, R., An, L., Chen, X., Antiviral research, Vol.100(3), 2013, 578-588]

„Four sesquiterpenes were isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb.: furanodiene (1), germacrone (2), furanodienone (3), and 13-hydroxygermacrone (4). Importantly, this was the first time compounds 1 and 4 were isolated from this plant… Among the isolated compounds, compounds 2 and 4 inhibited UVB-induced upregulation of the mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-3 in human keratinocytes (HaCaT). Moreover, this upregulation occurred in a dose-dependent manner over the range of 1–10 μM for each compound.“
[Germacrane sesquiterpenes isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. inhibit UVB-induced upregulation of MMP-1,-2, and-3 expression in human keratinocytes., Park, J. H., Mohamed, M. A. A., Jung, Y. J., Shrestha, S., Lee, T. H., Lee, C. H., Baek, N. I., Archives of pharmacal research, 2014, 1-9]