Pharmaceutical Sciences Asia Pharm Sci Asia 2021; 48(1), 1-24 DOI:10.29090/psa.2021.01.19.070 Review A review on the ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of plant species belonging to Kaempferia L. genus (Zingiberaceae) Ngoc Khanh Pham1,2,3*, Hoang Tuan Nguyen2, Quoc Binh Nguyen4 ABSTRACT 1 Institute of Natural Products Chemistry Kaempferia L. is a genus commonly distributed in Asian (INPC), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam countries including China, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, 2 Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hoan Kiem, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, where these species are Hanoi, Vietnam popularly used as traditional medicines for different ailments 3 College of Pharmacy, Dongguk University, Goyang, Korea comprising infective diseases, wound infection, cough, pain and 4 Vietnam National Museum of Nature, digestion disorders on chemical composition of Kaempferia plants Vietnam Academy of Science and revealed the presence of natural compounds classified in Technology, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic glycosides, cyclohexane oxide derivatives, diarylheptanoids and essential oil with *Corresponding author: various biological properties, which are valuable for discovery of new Ngoc Khanh Pham natural-derived therapeutic drugs and applications for the human
[email protected] beings. This study is aimed to review the chemical, ethnobotanical and pharmacological properties of the plants belonging to Kaempferia genus growing in Asian countries and especially in South East Asia. 1. INTRODUCTION Kaempferia, is a medium - sized genus of about 60 plant species belonging to Zingiberaceae1 that is one of the major tropical plant families with many members commonly used as ornaments, 2 spices and as medicinal herbs .