Chemical constituents of essential oils and RAPD fingerprints of Curcuma and Kaempferia plants in Thailand

Abstract

Twenty-two Curcuma species and five Kaempferia species in Thailand were investigated for essential oil constituents in the rhizomes by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis and for genetic markers by RAPD fingerprinting. The obtained data were used in studying phylogenetic relationships among species belonging to each of the two genera. The classification of the plants based on essential oil constituents was found to be in agreement with that based on RAPD profiles. Furthermore, both of the classifications were found to relate with morphological characters of the plants. This study gave some information on chemical and RAPD markers which might be useful for classification or identification of Curcuma and Kaempferia plants. In addition, the phylogenetic relationships of some unidentified Curcuma species with the identified species have been revealed, providing additional information for further identification of the unidentified species.