Costus speciosus (Koenig) J.E. Smith: In Vitro Cultures, Micropropagation, and the Production of Diosgenin and other Phy
Costus speciosus (Koenig) J.E. Smith (Cs; syn. Costus loureiri Horan.; Amomum arboreum Lour.; Banksia speciosa Koenig) is a herbaceous plant of the Zingiberaceae family, growing throughout South and Southeast Asia (Inoue et al. 1995; Wijayakusuma 1992). T
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1 General Account 1.1 The Plant
Costus speciosus (Koenig) J.E. Smith (Cs; syn. Costus loureiri Horan.; Amomum arboreum Lour.; Banksia speciosa Koenig) is a herbaceous plant of the Zingiberaceae family, growing throughout South and Southeast Asia (Inoue et al. 1995; Wijayakusuma 1992). This plant has been used for various medicinal purposes in that region. Koenig described that Cs cultivated in Malaya (in 1778) was used for medicinal purposes (cited by Burki111966). The plant has various local names, e.g.: Pacing (Java); Tabar-tabar (Sumatra); Lingkuas (Celebes); Setawar (Malay); Zhiang liu tau (China); Mia do (Vietnam); Co trong bon (Thailand) and Spiral ginger (English) (de Padua et al. 1981; WHO 1990; Wijayakusuma 1992). It is an erect herbaceous plant about 1-2m high and 1.5cm in diameter. The leaves are spirally arranged oblong, acuminate, subsessile, soflty pubescent on the lower surface and about 30cm long. The inflorescence is located at the apex of a normal leafy stem, and in the dense terminal spike, flowers are solitary, with a corolla which is white or tinged with purple, with red bracts. The rhizomes are stout and creep horizontally (Fig. lA-D). The fruits are few to numerous, capsule, ellipsoid, finely sericeous-pubescent, red, 1-2cm, and crowned by narrow calyx that is shorter than or as long as the fruit itself. There is a thick pericarpium and the black seed is about 3 mm in diameter, see Fig. 2 (Backer and van der Brink 1968; WHO 1990; de Padua et al. 1981). Our experience in Surabaya showed that only Cs plants that have purple flowers produced seeds. Cs can be easily propagated through rhizome and stem cuttings (Sarin et al. 1974; Nagendra and Abraham 1981). Cs showed intraspesific chromosomal races, namely, diploidy (2n = 2x = 18), triploidy (2n = 3x = 27), and tetraploidy (2n = 4x = 36). A few cells in the diploids and tetraploids contained the triploid number of chromosomes, suggesting inconstancy in chromosome complements in somatic tissues. The diploids were distinguished from the triploids and tetraploids on account of their smaller leaves (Nagendra and Abraham 1981). Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy Airlangga University, Jl. Dharmawangsa dalam, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, Vol. 43 Medicinal and Aromatic Plants XI (ed. by Y.P.S. Bajaj) © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1999
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G. Indrayanto et a!.
Fig. 1. A Costus speciosus general appearance of the plants. B Inflorescence at apex of normal leafy stems, C rhizomes, D solitary flower, with white corolla and red bracts
The rhizome of Cs is edible, and one-third of its dry weight is starch. As a food it is fairly nutritious, but it contains a large proportion of fiber. Boiled rhizomes are mucilaginous, feebly astringent but non aromatic (Burkill1966). 1.2 Phytosteroids Content
According to Hegnauer (1986) the genus Costus is rich in sterols and steroidal saponins. Das Gupta and Pandey (1970) first reported the presence of diosgenin in the rhizome of Cs. Indrayanto e
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