The effect of foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) at different concentrations (10−3 M and 10−5 M) was investigated on the production of secondary metabolites (flavonoids), chalcone synthase (CHS) activity, antioxidant activity and anticancer activity (against breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) in two varieties of Malaysian ginger, namely Halia Bentong and Halia Bara. The gene discussed is LYST; the disease is breast carcinoma.