Mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) is a unique spice having morphological resemblance with ginger but imparts a raw mango flavour. The main use of mango ginger rhizome is in the manufacture of pickles and culinary preparations. Ayurveda and Unani medicinal systems have given much importance to mango ginger as an appetizer, alexteric, antipyretic, aphrodisiac, diuretic, emollient, expectorant and laxative and to cure biliousness, itching, skin diseases, bronchitis, asthma, hiccough and inflammation due to injuries. The biological activities of mango ginger include antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, anti-inflammatory activity, platelet aggregation inhibitory activity, cytotoxicity, antiallergic activity, hypotriglyceridemic activity, brine-shrimp lethal activity, enterokinase inhibitory activity, CNS depressant and analgesic activity. The major chemical components include starch, phenolic acids, volatile oils, curcuminoids and terpenoids like difurocumenonol, amadannulen and amadaldehyde. This article brings to light the major active components present in C. amada along with their biological activities that may be important from the pharmacological point of view.

Sapota (Achras sapota Linn.) belongs to the family Sapotaceae and is assigned for various properties in the traditional system of Indian medicine. For the first time, nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of sapota juice with reference to its chemical composition have been investigated employing various well‐established in vitro methods. Chemical composition analysis of sapota juice revealed that it is one of the rich sources of sugars, proteins, ascorbic acid, phenolics, carotenoids and minerals like iron, copper, zinc, calcium and potassium. Apart from the nutritional components just given, sapota juice showed potential antioxidant activity against 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl free radicals and superoxide radicals. Sapota juice potentially inhibited the free radical‐mediated lipid peroxidation in a liposome model system. Total reducing‐power assay revealed the potential reducing power of sapota juice. The multiple radical‐scavenging potential of sapota juice was found to be due to its nutraceutical components, viz., phenolics, carotenoids and ascorbic acid.

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Aim:  The aim of the present work was to purify and characterize potential natural antibacterial compound from mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) rhizome. Methods and Results:  The mango ginger rhizome powder was sequentially extracted and screened for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion method and broth dilution method. Nonpolar extracts of mango ginger showed high antibacterial activity against gram‐positive bacteria with low minimum inhibitory concentration (60–180 ppm). Among five extracts of mango ginger, the chloroform extract demonstrated highest antibacterial activity. Antibacterial activity‐guided fractionation of the chloroform extract by repeated silica gel column chromatography yielded pure compound. The purified antibacterial compound was analysed by UV, IR, LC‐MS and 2D‐HMQCT NMR spectra and was identified as a difurocumenonol, a novel compound not reported previously. Conclusions:  Mango ginger extracts and isolated difurocumenonol demonstrated high antibacterial activity against gram‐negative and gram‐positive bacteria. Significance and Impact of the Study:  A novel and natural antibacterial compound as well as mango ginger extracts can be used as food preservative to control the growth of food‐borne pathogens and as a source of mango flavour.