Turmeric

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For the 2006 Merzbow album, see Turmeric (album).
Turmeric
Curcuma longa (Haldi) W IMG 2440.jpg
Inflorescence of Curcuma longa
Turmeric BNC.jpg
Processed turmeric
Scientific classification
Kingdom:

Plantae

(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family:

Zingiberaceae

Genus:

Curcuma

Species:

C. longa

Binomial name
Curcuma longa
L.[1]
Synonyms
Curcurma domestica Valeton

Turmeric or tumeric (Curcuma longa) /trmrk/ or /tjumrk/ or /tumrk/[2] is a

rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae.[3] It is
native to southern Asia, requiring temperatures between 20 and 30 C (68 and 86

F) and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive.[4] Plants are gathered

annually for their rhizomes and propagated from some of those rhizomes in the
following season.

When not used fresh, the rhizomes are boiled for about 3045 minutes and then
dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep-orange-yellow powder[5]
commonly used as a spice in Bangladeshi cuisine, Indian cuisine, Iranian cuisine,
Pakistani cuisine and curries, for dyeing, and to impart color to mustard condiments.

Botanical view of Curcuma longa

Turmeric field in an Indian village

Contents [hide]
1

History and etymology

Pronunciation

Botanical description

3.1

Appearance

3.2

Inflorescence, flower, and fruit

Biochemical composition

Uses

5.1

Culinary

5.2

Research

5.3

Dye

5.4

Indicator

5.5

Traditional uses

Adulteration

See also

References

External links

History and etymology[edit]

Turmeric has been used in Asia for thousands of years and is a major part of Siddha
medicine.[6] It was first used as a dye, and then later for its medicinal properties.[7]

The origin of the name is uncertain, possibly deriving from Middle English/early
modern English as turmeryte or tarmaret. There was speculation that it may be of
Latin origin, terra merita (merited earth).[8]

The name of the genus, Curcuma, is from an Arabic name of both saffron and
turmeric (see Crocus).

Pronunciation[edit]
Turmeric is sometimes pronounced without the earlier "r".[2] Many people
pronounce it as (/ju/ ew or /u/ oo rather than /r/ ur), as if it were spelled "tu-meric".

Botanical description[edit]
Appearance[edit]
Turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall.
Highly branched, yellow to orange, cylindrical, aromatic rhizomes are found. The
leaves are alternate and arranged in two rows. They are divided into leaf sheath,
petiole, and leaf blade.[9] From the leaf sheaths, a false stem is formed. The petiole
is 50 to 115 cm (20 to 45 in) long. The simple leaf blades are usually 76 to 115 cm
(30 to 45 in) long and rarely up to 230 cm (91 in). They have a width of 38 to 45 cm
(15 to 18 in) and are oblong to elliptic, narrowing at the tip.

Inflorescence, flower, and fruit[edit]

Native turmeric in the bush near Cooktown, Queensland, Australia

In China, the flowering time is usually in August. Terminally on the false stem is a 12
to 20 cm (4.7 to 7.9 in) long inflorescence stem containing many flowers. The bracts
are light green and ovate to oblong with a blunt upper end with a length of 3 to 5
cm.

At the top of the inflorescence, stem bracts are present on which no flowers occur;
these are white to green and sometimes tinged reddish-purple and the upper ends
are tapered.[10]

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold. The three 0.8 to 1.2 cm
long sepals are fused, white, have fluffy hairs and the three calyx teeth are unequal.
The three bright-yellow petals are fused into a corolla tube up to 3 cm long. The
three corolla lobes have a length of 1.0 to 1.5 cm, and are triangular with soft-spiny
upper ends. While the average corolla lobe is larger than the two lateral, only the
median stamen of the inner circle is fertile. The dust bag is spurred at its base. All
other stamens are converted to staminodes. The outer staminodes are shorter than
the labellum. The labellum is yellowish, with a yellow ribbon in its center and it is
obovate, with a length from 1.2 to 2.0 cm. Three carpels are under a constant,
trilobed ovary adherent, which is sparsely hairy. The fruit capsule opens with three
compartments.

Biochemical composition[edit]

Curcumin keto form

Curcumin enol form

The most important chemical components of turmeric are a group of compounds
called curcuminoids, which include curcumin (diferuloylmethane),
demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. The best-studied compound is
curcumin, which constitutes 3.14% (on average) of powdered turmeric.[11]
However, there are big variations in curcumin content in the different lines of the
species Curcuma longa (13189 mg/100g). In addition, other important volatile oils
include turmerone, atlantone, and zingiberene. Some general constituents are
sugars, proteins, and resins.[12]

Uses[edit]
Culinary[edit]

Turmeric powder is used extensively in South Asian cuisine.

Curry of fresh turmeric, referred to as haldi ki Sabji, is a dish from Rajasthan (India).
Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the key
ingredients in many Asian dishes. Indian traditional medicine, called Siddha, has
recommended turmeric for medicine. Its use as a coloring agent is not of primary
value in South Asian cuisine.

Turmeric is mostly used in savory dishes, but is used in some sweet dishes, such as
the cake sfouf. In India, turmeric plant leaf is used to prepare special sweet dishes,
patoleo, by layering rice flour and coconut-jaggery mixture on the leaf, then closing
and steaming it in a special copper steamer (goa).

In recipes outside South Asia, turmeric is sometimes used as an agent to impart a

rich, custard-like yellow color. It is used in canned beverages, baked products, dairy
products, ice cream, yogurt, yellow cakes, orange juice, biscuits, popcorn color,
cereals, sauces, gelatins, etc. It is a significant ingredient in most commercial curry
powders.

Most turmeric is used in the form of rhizome powder. In some regions (especially in
Maharashtra, Goa, Konkan, and Kanara), turmeric leaves are used to wrap and cook
food. Turmeric leaves are mainly used in this way in areas where turmeric is grown
locally, since the leaves used are freshly picked. Turmeric leaves impart a distinctive
flavor.

Although typically used in its dried, powdered form, turmeric is also used fresh, like
ginger. It has numerous uses in East Asian recipes, such as pickle that contains
large chunks of soft turmeric, made from fresh turmeric.

Turmeric is widely used as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. Many
Persian dishes use turmeric as a starter ingredient. Almost all Iranian khoresh dishes
are started using onions caramelized in oil and turmeric, followed by other
ingredients. The Moroccan spice mix ras el hanout typically includes turmeric.

In India and Nepal, turmeric is widely grown and extensively used in many
vegetable and meat dishes for its color; it is also used for its supposed value in
traditional medicine.

In South Africa, turmeric is used to give boiled white rice a golden colour.

In Vietnamese cuisine, turmeric powder is used to color and enhance the flavors of
certain dishes, such as bnh xo, bnh kht, and mi quang. The powder is used in
many other Vietnamese stir-fried and soup dishes.

The staple Cambodian curry paste kroeung, used in many dishes including Amok,
typically contains fresh turmeric.

In Indonesia, turmeric leaves are used for Minang or Padang curry base of Sumatra,
such as rendang, sate padang, and many other varieties.

In Thailand, fresh turmeric rhizomes are widely used in many dishes, in particular in
the southern Thai cuisine, such as the yellow curry and turmeric soup.

In medieval Europe, turmeric became known as Indian saffron because it was widely
used as an alternative to the far more expensive saffron spice.[13]

Research[edit]

Turmeric rhizome and powder.

A. Bernecker, Curcuma domestica Valeton (=Curcuma longa), around 1860

See also: Curcumin
Basic research shows extracts from turmeric may have antifungal and antibacterial
properties.[14]

Turmeric is under study for its potential to affect human diseases, including
Alzheimer's disease[15] and diabetes.[16]

Dye[edit]
Turmeric makes a poor fabric dye, as it is not very light fast, but is commonly used
in Indian and Bangladeshi clothing, such as saris and Buddhist monks's robes.[17]
Turmeric (coded as E100 when used as a food additive)[18] is used to protect food
products from sunlight. The oleoresin is used for oil-containing products. A curcumin
and polysorbate solution or curcumin powder dissolved in alcohol is used for watercontaining products. Over-coloring, such as in pickles, relishes, and mustard, is
sometimes used to compensate for fading.

In combination with annatto (E160b), turmeric has been used to color cheeses,
yogurt, dry mixes, salad dressings, winter butter and margarine. Turmeric is also
used to give a yellow color to some prepared mustards, canned chicken broths, and
other foods (often as a much cheaper replacement for saffron).

Indicator[edit]
Turmeric paper, also called curcuma paper or in German literature Curcumapapier is
paper steeped in a tincture of turmeric and allowed to dry. It is used in chemical
analysis as an indicator for acidity and alkalinity.[19] The paper is yellow in acidic
and neutral solutions and turns brown to reddish-brown in alkaline solutions, with
transition between pH of 7.4 and 9.2.[20]

For pH detection, turmeric paper has been replaced in common use by litmus paper.
Turmeric can be used as a substitute for phenolphthalein, as its color change pH
range is similar.

Traditional uses[edit]
In Ayurvedic practices, turmeric has been used to treat a variety of internal
disorders, such as indigestion, throat infections, common colds, or liver ailments, as
well as topically to cleanse wounds or treat skin sores.[4]

Turmeric is considered auspicious and holy in India and has been used in various
Hindu ceremonies for millennia. It remains popular in India for wedding and religious
ceremonies.

Turmeric has played an important role in Hindu spiritualism. The robes of the Hindu
monks were traditionally colored with a yellow dye made of turmeric. Because of its
yellow-orange coloring, turmeric was associated with the sun or the Thirumal in the
mythology of ancient Tamil religion. Yellow is the color of the solar plexus chakra
which in traditional Tamil Siddha medicine is an energy center. Orange is the color
of the sacral chakra.

The plant is used in Poosai (Tamil) to represent a form of the Tamil Goddess
Kottravai. In Eastern India, the plant is used as one of the nine components of
navapatrika along with young plantain or banana plant, taro leaves, barley (jayanti),
wood apple (bilva), pomegranate (darimba), asoka, manaka or manakochu, and rice
paddy. The Navaptrika worship is an important part of Durga festival rituals.[21]

It is used in poosai to make a form of Ganesha. Yaanaimugathaan, the remover of

obstacles, is invoked at the beginning of almost any ceremony and a form of
Yaanaimugathaan for this purpose is made by mixing turmeric with water and
forming it into a cone-like shape.

Haldi ceremony (called Gaye holud in Bengal) (literally "yellow on the body") is a
ceremony observed during Hindu wedding celebrations in many parts of India
including Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The 'ceremony takes place one
or two days before the religious and legal Bengali wedding ceremonies. The
turmeric paste is applied by friends to the bodies of the couple. This is said to soften
the skin, but also colors them with the distinctive yellow hue that gives its name to
this ceremony. It may be a joint event for the bride and groom's families, or it may
consist of separate events for the bride's family and the groom's family.

During the Tamil festival Pongal, a whole turmeric plant with fresh rhizomes is
offered as a thanksgiving offering to Suryan, the sun god. Also, the fresh plant
sometimes is tied around the sacred Pongal pot in which an offering of pongal is
prepared.

Turmeric flower in Maharashtra, India

In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as a part of the Tamil/Telugu marriage ritual,
dried turmeric tuber tied with string is used to create a Thali necklace, the
equivalent of marriage rings in western cultures. In western and coastal India,
during weddings of the Marathi and Konkani people, Kannada Brahmins turmeric
tubers are tied with strings by the couple to their wrists during a ceremony called
Kankanabandhana.[22]

Friedrich Ratzel in The History of Mankind reported in 1896 that in Micronesia, the
preparation of turmeric powder for embellishment of body, clothing, and utensils
had ceremonial character.[23]

Adulteration[edit]
As turmeric and other spices are commonly sold by weight, the potential exists for
powders of toxic, cheaper agents with a similar color to be added, such as lead(II,IV)
oxide, giving turmeric an orange-red color instead of its native gold-yellow.[24]
Another common adulterant in turmeric, metanil yellow (also known as acid yellow
36), is considered an illegal dye for use in foods by the British Food Standards
Agency.[25]

See also[edit]
Alpinia zerumbet
Curcuma xanthorrhiza
Curcuma zedoaria
Etlingera elatior
Kaempferia galanga

References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Curcuma longa information from NPGS/GRIN". ars-grin.gov. Retrieved
2008-03-04.
^ Jump up to: a b "Turmeric (pronunciation)". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2015.
Jump up ^ Priyadarsini KI (2014). "The chemistry of curcumin: from extraction to
therapeutic agent". Molecules. 19 (12): 20091112.
doi:10.3390/molecules191220091. PMID 25470276.
^ Jump up to: a b Prasad, S; Aggarwal, B. B.; Benzie, I. F. F.; Wachtel-Galor, S (2011).
Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, eds. Turmeric, the Golden Spice: From Traditional
Medicine to Modern Medicine; In: Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical
Aspects; chap. 13. 2nd edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton (FL). PMID 22593922.
Jump up ^ "Turmeric processing". Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala, India. 2013.
Retrieved 10 October 2015.
Jump up ^ Chattopadhyay, Ishita; Kaushik Biswas; Uday Bandyopadhyay; Ranajit K.
Banerjee (10 July 2004). "Turmeric and curcumin: Biological actions and medicinal
applications" (PDF). Current Science. Indian Academy of Sciences. 87 (1): 4453.
ISSN 0011-3891. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
Jump up ^ "Herbs at a Glance: Turmeric, Science & Safety". National Center for
Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institutes of Health. 2012.
Retrieved 11 October 2012.
Jump up ^ "Turmeric". Dictionary.com Unabridged Random House Dictionary. 2013.
Retrieved 11 October 2012.
Jump up ^ Curcuma longa A Modern Herbal, M Grieve. Accessed November 2013
Jump up ^ Curcuma longa Linn. Description from Flora of China, South China
Botanical Garden. Accessed November 2013
Jump up ^ Tayyem RF, Heath DD, Al-Delaimy WK, Rock CL (2006). "Curcumin
content of turmeric and curry powders". Nutr Cancer. 55 (2): 126131.
doi:10.1207/s15327914nc5502_2. PMID 17044766.
Jump up ^ Nagpal M, Sood S (2013). "Role of curcumin in systemic and oral health:
An overview". J Nat Sci Biol Med. 4 (1): 37. doi:10.4103/0976-9668.107253. PMC
3633300Freely accessible. PMID 23633828.
Jump up ^ Prasad S, Aggarwal BB (2011). Benzie IF, Wachtel-Galor S, eds. Herbal
Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition; Chapter 13: Turmeric, the
Golden Spice. From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine. Boca Raton, FL: CRC
Press. ISBN 978-1439807132. PMID 22593922. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

Jump up ^ Ragasa C, Laguardia M, Rideout J (2005). "Antimicrobial sesquiterpenoids

and diarylheptanoid from Curcuma domestica". ACGC Chem Res Comm. 18 (1): 21
24.
Jump up ^ Mishra S, Palanivelu K (JanuaryMarch 2008). "The effect of curcumin
(turmeric) on Alzheimer's disease: An overview". Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 11 (1):
139. doi:10.4103/0972-2327.40220. PMC 2781139Freely accessible. PMID
19966973.
Jump up ^ Maithili Karpaga; Selvi, N.; Sridhar, M. G.; Swaminathan, R. P.; Sripradha,
R. (May 2014). "Efficacy of turmeric as adjuvant therapy in type 2 diabetic
patients.". Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry. 30 (2): 180186.
doi:10.1007/s12291-014-0436-2. PMC 4393385Freely accessible. PMID 25883426.
Jump up ^ Brennan, James (15 Oct 2008). "Turmeric". Lifestyle. The National.
Retrieved 13 May 2012.
Jump up ^ UK food guide
Jump up ^ Ravindran, P. N., ed. (2007). The genus Curcuma. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor
& Francis. p. 244. ISBN 9781420006322.
Jump up ^ Berger S, Sicker D (2009). Classics in Spectroscopy. Wiley & Sons. p. 208.
ISBN 978-3-527-32516-0.
Jump up ^ "Nabapatrika or Navapatrika Nine leaves of plants used during Durga
Puja". Hindu Blog. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
Jump up ^ Singh KS, Bhanu BV (2004). People of India: Maharashtra, Volume 1.
Popular Prakashan. pp. 2130 pages(see page:487). ISBN 9788179911006.
Jump up ^ Ratzel, Friedrich. The History of Mankind. (London: MacMillan, 1896).
URL: www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/oceania-utensils.htm
accessed 28 November 2009.
Jump up ^ "Detention without physical examination of turmeric due to lead
contamination". US Food and Drug Administration. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 9
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Jump up ^ "Producing and distributing food guidance: Chemicals in food: safety
controls; Sudan dyes and industrial dyes not permitted in food". Food Standards
Agency, UK Government. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curcuma longa.
Wikispecies has information related to: Curcuma longa

Look up turmeric in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Turmeric List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's)
Plant Cultures: review of botany, history and uses
Turmeric from the University of Maryland Medical Center.
NIH.gov/books: "Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects", 2nd edition
Chapter 13: Turmeric, the Golden Spice
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Taxon identifiers
EoL: 1122309 GBIF: 2757624 Plant List: kew-235249 Tropicos: 34500029 ITIS: 42394
NCBI: 136217 IPNI: 796451-1 GRIN: 12676 FOC: 200028370 PLANTS: CULO AFPD:
20253
Authority control
NDL: 00573981
Categories: CurcumaFlora of IndiaFlora of NepalSpicesMedicinal plants of
AsiaRhizomatous plantsCrops originating from IndiaChemopreventive
agentsExperimental medical treatmentsFood additivesFood coloringsIndian
spicesMonoamine oxidase inhibitorsPlant dyesPlants used in AyurvedaPlants
described in 1753
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