Curcuma pierreana Gagnep.

 Curcuma pierreana Gagnep., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 54: 405 (1907).

Curcuma pierreana Gagnep.; Photos Đoàn Minh Nhân

Vietnamese name: 

Nghệ Pierre 

Latin Name: 

Curcuma pierreana Gagnep. 

Synonym Name: 

No synonyms are recorded for this name.

Family: 

Zingiberaceae

Description: It is a herbaceous perennial plant, producing clumps of leafy stems about 60cm tall from a rhizomatous rootstock.

Flowering: 

September to October.

Distribution: 

Southeast Asia - Thailand, Cambodia and VietNam

The plant has been cultivated in Vietnam for its edible roots

Cultivation Details:

Plants in this genus generaly prefer a humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil in partial shade

Chemical: 

- The flower oil was analyzed by a combination of high resolution GC and GC/MS. More than 40 components were identified, representing 89% of the oil. The principal constituents were isoborneol (27.3%), camphor (24.1%), isobornyl acetate (7.3%), camphene (6.7%) and α-pinene (5.1%). The oil contained more than 70% of oxygenated compounds, which contributed to its special odor.

- More than 30 components from the rhizome oil, and more than 35 constituents of the stem and leaf oils were identified. The major compounds of the rhizome oil were found to be isoborneol (22.9%) and its acetate (18.8%). The same compounds were also the major constituents of the stem oil (12.4% and 14.4%, respectively), which also contained beta-caryophyllene (10.4% and (Z)-p-farnesene (10.8%). The predominant constituents of the leaf oil were camphor (13.0%) and isoborneol (12.8%).

Use: 

An edible starch is obtained from the root.

Propagation:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Germinates best at temperatures around 20°C. Division of the rhizome when the plant is dormant.

Reference: 

- theplantlist.org

- efloras.org

- ipni.org

- Nguyên Xuân Dũng, Nguyên Thi Bích Tuyêt, Pham Van Khlên, André Barthel & Piet A. Leclercq (1998) Chemical Composition of the Flower Oil of Curcuma pierreana Gagnep. from Vietnam, Journal of Essential Oil Research, 10:5, 527-528

- Nguyen Xuan Dung, Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyet., Leclercq PA. Volatile constituents of the rhizome, stem and leaf oils of Curcuma pierreana Gagnep. from Vietnam. Journal of Essential oil Research : JEOR.. 1995 Jun;7(3):261-264