Morphological, Anatomical Characteristics, and Preliminary Phytochemistry of Zingiber densissimum

Zingiber Miller is an important genus of Zingiberaceae, of which many species have been used in the ethnobotany in Asia. Zingiber densissimum S.Q.Tong & Y.M.Xia is a rare species and recently it has been identified as a new taxonomic record for the flora of Vietnam. Based on the trnL intron region, the present study confirms that the specimens collected from Langbiang Mountain, Vietnam are Z. densissimum. The morphological traits were described and illustrated with both detailed photos and drawings. The anatomical characteristics of the leaf, root, and rhizome were first investigated in this paper. In addition, the ethanol extracts of the different parts of Z. densissimum contained some bioactive compounds, including phenols, tannins, coumarins, alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, and saponins.