Antimicrobial Analysis of extracts of rhizomes of hedychium Spicatum in A. Rees of Himachal Pradesh.

Hedychium.spicatum grows up to at least one metre height with elongated stem. The rhizomes have a pungent odor and a bitter flavor. It closely resembles Hedychiumcoronarium. The white ascending flowers are borne in terminal spikes and the leaves are approximately 30 cm long glabrous beneath, earning it the name spiked ginger lily. The leaves vary in breadth, glabrous, oblong and lanceolate. Fruit is capsule type; glabrous and globose Rhizomes are externally yellowish-brown, which darken on storage. These are 15-20 cm long; 2.0-2.5 cm in diameter; with a rough reddish brown layer marked with numerous scars and circular rings; rudiments of rootlets are visible).Hedychium.spicatum is well known to possesses a plethora of therapeutic activities Hedychium spicatum has been shown to suppress carcinogenesis of the skin, liver, lung, colon and stomach. It has also been shown to inhibit the proliferation of a wide variety of tumor cells in culture. It has been shown to lower blood cholesterol, promote wound healing, prevent skin wrinkling, inhibit inflammation, suppress rheumatoid arthritis. Pharmacologically,Hedychium. spicatum is quite safe, and doses as high as 2g / Kg a day have been administered orally to rats with no side effects.