Zerumbone Zingiber Zerumbet – Interstellar Blends

Wedelia Chinensis

November 1, 2018

Zingiber Officinale Roscoe

November 1, 2018

Zingiber Zerumbet

Zingiber Zerumbet or how the Malay call it "Lempoyang" is a type of perennial herb which can be found in various tropical countries.

This herb has been utilized regularly as a type of food flavoring and even as an appetizer in Malaysia.

The name Zingiber actually stems from a Sanskrit word which means a Bull's Horn. The leaves can be purple located beneath the young shoots and are rather thin and around 25-35cm in length.

Benefits of Zingiber Zerumbet

Apoptosis - Zerumbone is a cytotoxic component isolated from Zingiber zerumbet Smith, a herbal plant which is also known as lempoyang. This new anticancer bioactive compound from Z. zerumbet was investigated for its activity and mechanism in human liver cancer cell lines.

Zerumbone significantly showed an antiproliferative activity upon HepG2 cells with an IC50 of 3.45 ± 0.026 μg/ml. Zerumbone was also found to inhibit the proliferation of non-malignant Chang Liver and MDBK cell lines.

Zerumbone was found to induce the apoptotic process in HepG2 cells through the up and down regulation of Bax/Bcl-2 protein independently of functional p53 activity.

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Anti-Inflammatory - In this paper, zerumbone (1), 3-O-methyl kaempferol (2), kaempferol-3-O-(2, 4-di-O-acetyl-α-l-rhamnopyranoside) (3), and kaempferol-3-O-(3,4-di-O-acetyl-α-l-rhamnopyranoside) (4) were isolated from the rhizome of Z. zerumbet.

According to the in vitro study, 1 had greater anti-inflammatory effects than 2. Therefore, mice were administered with 1 (10 mg/kg) 1 h before carrageenan injection, and the oedema was significantly attenuated compared to the vehicle control.

Mature rhizomes were richer in 1 and lower in moisture. We suggest that the economic cultivation period of Z. zerumbet is the 5th month after seeding when its functions as food and anti-inflammatory are maximum, because 1 is dramatically increased at that time.

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In the next study, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive potentials of ZER in a variety of cell culture experiments.

The results indicate that ZER is a food phytochemical that has distinct potentials for use in anti-inflammation, chemoprevention, and chemotherapy strategies.

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Anti-Tumor - CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), initially linked with leukocyte trafficking, is now known to be expressed in various tumors including breast, ovary, prostate, gastrointestinal, head and neck, bladder, brain, and melanoma.

This receptor mediates homing of tumor cells to specific organs that express the ligand CXCL12 for this receptor.

Thus, agents that can down-regulate CXCR4 expression have potential against cancer metastasis. In this study, we report the identification of zerumbone, a component of subtropical ginger (Zingiber zerumbet), as a regulator of CXCR4 expression.

Results show that zerumbone is a novel inhibitor of CXCR4 expression and thus has a potential in the suppression of cancer metastasis.

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Anti-Allergic Activity - Ethanolic and water extracts, together with volatile oils from the rhizomes of six selected Zingiberaceous plants, including Curcuma mangga, Kaempferia galanga, Kaempferia parviflora, Zingiber cassumunar, Zingiber officinale and Zingiber zerumbet were investigated for their anti-allergic activities using a RBL-2H3 cell line.

As a result, the plant extracts were inactive against the enzyme activity of β-hexosaminidase. These findings support the use in Thai traditional medicine of these selected Zingiberaceous plants, especially Kaempferia parviflora and Zingiber cassumunar, for treatment of allergy and allergic-related diseases.

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Anti-Cancer - One natural compound called zerumbone, a cyclic eleven-membered sesquiterpene, isolated from the tropical plant Zingiber zerumbet Smith that has attracted great attention recently for its potent anticancer activities in several tumor models.

This review summarizes the data based on various in vitro and in vivo studies related to the effects of zerumbone on numerous pivotal molecular targets in cancer and its reported chemopreventive/therapeutic effects in different models of cancer.

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The study investigated the purified zerumbone crystals for its anti-cancer properties on human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). Cisplatin, was used as a positive control in this study.

The cytotoxicity of zerumbone and cisplatin were investigated using the MTT assay and caspases-3 was estimated with colorimetric assay in zerumbone treated HeLa cells.

This study showed promising avenues towards zerumbone to be developed as a new chemo-natural drug for treatment of cervical cancer.

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In the next study they assessed the effects of zerumbone on cell proliferation activity of crypts by counting silver-stained nucleolar organizer regions protein (AgNORs) in colonic cryptal cell nuclei.

These findings might suggest possible chemopreventive ability of zerumbone, through suppression of COX-2 expression, cell proliferating activity of colonic mucosa, and induction of phase II detoxification enzymes in the development of carcinogen-induced ACF.

(Article)

Anti-Microbial - In this study they investigated antimicrobial effects of ethanolic extract of Zingiber zerumbet (Z. zerumbet) (L.) Smith and its chloroform and petroleum ether soluble fractions against pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

At a concentration of 400 µg/disc, all the samples showed mild to moderate antibacterial and antifungal activity and produced the zone of inhibition ranging from 6 mm to 10 mm.

It can be concluded that, potent antibacterial and antifungal phytochemicals are present in ethanol extract of Z. zerumbet (L).

(Article)