Alpinia katsumadai, A. katsumadae, Alpinia hainanensis.  草 豆 蔻 Cǎo dòu kòu, Grass cardamon, Katsumadai seed   Family: Zingiberaceae      
PART USED: Seed- harvested in autumn when color of fruit changes from green to yellow.
Nature- warm       FLAVOR: Pungent, acrid    CHANNELS: Spleen, Stomach
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Aromatic Damp Resolving
1. Dries Dampness,[1] and warms the middle.[1,3] Strengthen Stomach.[2] Anti-emetic.[2]
2. Disperses cold.[2] Stops diarrhea.[2] Astringent.[2]
INDICATIONS
1. Cold Damp of Spleen and Stomach:[1,2] Abdominal pain, vomiting, cold feelings, excessive saliva in mouth, lack of appetite, pale lips.[2] Fullness, distention and pain in the epigastrium and abdomen accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea.[3] T- pale. Acupuncture is effect an moxa on ginger.[2]
2. Chronic diarrhea due to Cold deficiency:[2] Chronic enteritis, chronic bacterial dysentery. Belching, hiccup, vomiting and diarrhea due to Cold Dampness.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Yin deficiency.[3]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Near ripe dry seed  3-6 g.[1,2,3] when used in decoction the herb should be added near the end.[3] Good quality is large and full. Pill/tablet form best.[2]
          
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research

Antioxidant activity of extracts from Alpinia katsumadai seed.
Lee SE, Shin HT, Hwang HJ, Kim JH.
Author information
Abstract
Alpinia katsumadai (Zingiberaceae) has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of conditions such as emesis and gastric disorders. However, very little is known about the cellular actions by which this plant mediates its therapeutic effects. Various aspects of antioxidant activity were evaluated in a total extract derived from Alpinia katsumadai seed in this study. Relatively high levels of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity were detected in the total extract (IC(50) 1.6 microgram/mL). Other known compounds such as (-)-epigallocatechine-3-gallate (EGCG) and resveratrol showed IC(50) values of <0.8 and 4.8 microgram/mL, respectively. The total extract also enhanced the viability of Chinese hamster lung fibroblast (V79-4) cells and inhibited H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis. The total extract of Alpinia katsumadai also dose-dependently enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in V79-4 cells, and these effects were comparable to other antioxidant compounds such as EGCG and resveratrol. Taken together, our findings show that Alpinia katsumadai contains significant antioxidant activity.
Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PMID: 14595584 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1291 Phytother Res. 2003 Nov;17(9):1041-7. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Structural Characterization and Biological Effects of Constituents of the Seeds of Alpinia katsumadai (Alpina Katsumadai Seed)
Joo-Won NamEun Kyoung SeoEun Kyoung Seo
Abstract
Alpinia katsumadai Hayata (Zingiberaceae) has been used as an anti-emetic medicine and to treat gastric disorders in Oriental Medicine. Previous phytochemical investigations of this plant have resulted in the isolation of various diarylheptanoids, kavalactones, flavonoids, stilbenes, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes. Some of these compounds have antioxidant, anti-emetic, antiviral, and cytoprotective effects. This review paper discusses the structural characterization of the chemical constituents of A. katsumadai, as well as the biological activity of pure constituents of this plant material.
June 2012Natural product communications 7(6):795-8
SourcePubMed researchgate.net

Neuroprotective effects of Alpinia katsumadai against experimental ischemic damage via control of oxidative stress
Hua Li, Joon Ha Park, Jae-Chul Lee, Ki-Yeon Yoo, In Koo Hwang, Choong Hyun Lee
Abstract
Context: Alpinia katsumadai (Zingiberaceae) has been identified by the National Plant Quarantine Service in Korea. The extract of Alpinia katsumadai seed (EAKS) has antioxidant activities.
Objective: We investigated the neuroprotective effects of EAKS on ischemic damage in the gerbil hippocampal CA1 region after transient cerebral ischemia.
Materials and methods: The ethanol extract of EAKS was obtained by organic solvent, collected in Kangwon province (South Korea) and orally administered using a feeding needle once a day for one week before transient cerebral ischemia in gerbils.
Result: We adapted oral administration of 25 and 50 mg/kg EAKS because there are no data about the absorption and metabolism of EKAS. We found a significant neuroprotection in the 50 mg/kg EAKS-treated ischemia group, not in the 25 mg/kg EAKS-treated ischemia group, at 4 days ischemia-reperfusion (I-R). In the 50 mg/kg EAKS-treated ischemia group, about 68% of pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region were immunostained with neuronal nuclei (NeuN) 4 days after I-R, compared to the vehicle-treated ischemia group. 8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (a marker for DNA damage) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (a marker for lipid peroxidation) immunoreactivity in the CA1 region of the EAKS-treated ischemia group were not markedly changed compared to the vehicle-treated ischemia group. In addition, Cu,Zn- and Mn-SOD immunoreactivity in the CA1 region of the EAKS-treated ischemia group were increased compared to the vehicle-treated ischemia group.
Discussion: Repeated supplements of EAKS could protect neurons against ischemic damage, showing that DNA damage and lipid peroxidation are attenuated and SODs are increased in the ischemic CA1 region.
Pages 197-205 | Received 02 Dec 2011, Accepted 26 Jul 2012, Published online: 24 Oct 2012
Download citation https://doi.org/10.3109/13880209.2012.716853 tandfonline.com

In Vitro inhibitory activity of Alpinia katsumadai extracts against influenza virus infection and hemagglutination
Hyung-Jun Kwon†, Ha-Hyun Kim†, So Young Yoon, Young Bae Ryu, Jong Sun Chang, Kyoung-Oh Cho, Mun-Chual Rho, Su-Jin ParkEmail author and Woo Song LeeEmail author
Abstract
Background
Alpinia katsumadai (AK) extracts and fractions were tested for in vitro antiviral activities against influenza virus type A, specially human A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and avian A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2), by means of time-of-addition experiments; pre-treatment, simultaneous treatment, and post treatment.
Results
In pre-treatment assay, the AK extracts and AK fractions did not show significant antiviral activity. During the simultaneous treatment assay, one AK extract and five AK fractions designated as AK-1 to AK-3, AK-5, AK-10, and AK-11 showed complete inhibition of virus infectivity against A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). The 50% effective inhibitory concentrations (EC50) of these one AK extracts and five AK fractions with exception of the AK-9 were from 0.8 ± 1.4 to 16.4 ± 4.5 μ g/mL against A/PR/8/34 (H1N1). The two AK extracts and three AK fractions had EC50 values ranging from <0.39 ± 0.4 to 2.3 ± 3.6 μ g/mL against A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). By the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay, the two AK extracts and five AK fractions completely inhibited viral adsorption onto chicken RBCs at less than 100 μ g/mL against both A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 (H9N2). Interestingly, only AK-3 was found with inhibition for both viral attachment and viral replication after showing extended antiviral activity during the post treatment assay and quantitative real-time PCR.
Conclusions
These results suggest that AK extracts and fractions had strong anti-influenza virus activity that can inhibit viral attachment and/or viral replication, and may be used as viral prophylaxis.
Virology Journal20107:307
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-7-307© Kwon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010
Received: 28 September 2010Accepted: 10 November 2010Published: 10 November 2010 virologyj.biomedcentral.com

Two Novel Anti-emetic Principles of Alpinia katsumadai
Ye Yang†, Kaoru Kinoshita†, Kiyotaka Koyama†, Kunio Takahashi*†, Takaaki Tai‡, Yoshiki Nunoura‡, and Kazuo Watanabe§
Abstract
Two novel diarylheptanoids named katsumadain A (1) and katsumadain B (2) were isolated from the seeds of Alpinia katsumadai, and their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis. Both katsumadains A (1) and B (2) showed anti-emetic activities on copper sulfate-induced emesis in young chicks.
J. Nat. Prod., 1999, 62 (12), pp 1672–1674
DOI: 10.1021/np990096e
Publication Date (Web): October 22, 1999 Cite this:J. Nat. Prod. 1999, 62, 12, 1672-1674 pubs.acs.org

Antinociceptive Effects of Alpinia katsumadai via Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibition
Jin Kyu Paldal-ku Choi, Kwang-mi Kim, +7 authors Chang Hoon LeePublished 2010
Abstract
Alpinia katsumadai has been widely used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine to treat a variety of conditions including emesis and gastric disorders such as gastric pain and distended abdomen. To investigate the antinociceptive potential and mechanism of A. katsumadai, ethanolic extracts of A. katsumadai were assayed on cyclooxygenase-2 and evaluated for analgesic activity based on phenylbenzoquinone (PBQ)-induced writhing and carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia tests. A. katsumadai extracts inhibited the cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme activity in a dose-dependent fashion at an IC50 value of 0.044 μg/ml. A. katsumadai extract (30-300 mg/kg, orally (p.o.) administered) significantly inhibited PBQ-induced writhing. This inhibition was judged not to be a false positive because a Rota-rod test revealed no difference in muscular coordination when compared to the controls. With regard to the carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia, A. katsumadai extract (30-300 mg/kg, p.o.) produced a significant, dose-dependent increase in the withdrawal response latencies. Naloxone did not reverse the analgesic effect of A. katsumadai extract in the carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia. Taken together, these results suggest that the antinociceptive activity of A. katsumadai is not related to the opioid receptor. A. katsumadai extract has remarkable, non-opioidreceptor-mediated analgesic effects on PBQ-induced writhing and carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia that occur via cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition. DOI:10.4062/biomolther.2010.18.2.159 semanticscholar.org