A herbaceous shrub that grows to about 6 ft (1.8 m) tall. Leaves are about 2 ft (0.6 m) long and 6 in (15.2 cm) across and strikingly variegated with irregular stripes of green and yellow. Flowers are white, tipped in pink, and borne in long pendant arches. Fruit is globose with many striations.
Herb Effects
As a stomachic, carminative, astringent, tonic and sedative (rhizome); diuretic, antihypertensive, and antiulcerogenic (decoction or infusion of leaves).
Used as a bath against fevers (decoction of leaves); for stimulating digestion and in the treatment of dyspepsia, flatulence, vomiting, gastralgia, colic, diarrhoea and malaria (rhizome); to treat stomach disorders, vomiting and dyspepsia (plant); to clear cold, invigorate the spleen and warm the stomach (seed).
Contraindication
It stimulates the uterus and hence it is contraindicated in pregnancy.
Reference
de Moura RS, Emiliano AF, de Carvalho LC, Souza MA, Guedes DC, Tano T, Resende AC. Antihypertensive and endothelium-dependent vasodilator effects of Alpinia zerumbet, a medicinal plant. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2005 Sep;46(3):288-94.
Health Remedies 
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