Altitude Influence Idioblast Cells Density and Phytocomponents Quality of Galangal (Kaempferia galanga L.) Essential Oil

Kaempferia galanga L. (galangal, Zingiberaceae) is an indigenous medicinal plant that has an active compound of ethyl-p-methoxycinnamate (EPMC) as an essential oil. The study of idioblast cells density and galangal essential oil influenced by altitude is limited. The galangal accessions collected from Central Java and East Java, Indonesia were identified as the phytocomponents of oil at a different altitude. The histochemical test was carried out to detect alkaloids, terpenoids, lipophilic, and phenolic in the secretory cells. The volatile composition of galangal essential oil was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that the essential oil content of galangal rhizome ranging from 1.14-3.99% and 1.27-2.68% at 214 m asl and 780 m asl, respectively. The twenty-five of total compounds were identified in the galangal oil. The oil phytocomponents were dominated by EPMC (71.62-74.77%). The other phytocomponents were pentadecane (6.79-36.98%), 2-propenoic acid (7.73-12.99%), ethyl cinnamate (4.95-9.71%), caryophyllene (2.05-2.66%), 3-carene (1.13-9.13%), ɤ-muurolene (1.19-4.30%), patchouli alcohol (1.47-2.99%), and 1,8-cineole (1.22-1.40%). Based on the high EPMC content obtained superior accessions, namely Purbalingga accession (PBG) and Pacitan accession (PCT). The EPMC was the most phytocomponents in the essential oil of the galangal accessions.