Everything about Curcuma Longa totally explained
Turmeric (
Curcuma longa) is a
rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the
ginger family,
Zingiberaceae which is native to
tropical South Asia. It needs temperatures between 20 and 30 deg. C. and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes, and re-seeded from some of those rhizomes in the following season.
It is also often misspelled (or pronounced) as . It is also known as
kunyit (Indonesian and Malay) or
haldi in some Asian countries.
Its
rhizomes are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they're ground into a deep orange-
yellow powder commonly used as a
spice in
curries and other
South Asian cuisine, for dyeing, and to impart color to
mustard condiments. Its active ingredient is
curcumin and it has an earthy, bitter,
peppery flavor and has a mustardy smell.
Sangli, a town in the southern part of the
Indian state of
Maharashtra, is the largest and most important trading centre for turmeric in
Asia or perhaps in the entire world.
Uses
Food
In non-Indian recipes, Turmeric is sometimes used as a coloring agent. It has found application in canned
beverages, baked products,
dairy products,
ice cream,
yogurt, yellow
cakes orange juice,
biscuits,
popcorn-color, sweets, cake icings,
cereals, sauces,
gelatins, etc. It is a significant ingredient in most commercial
curry powders.
Turmeric (coded as
E100 when used as a
food additive) is used to protect food products from sunlight. The
oleoresin is used for oil-containing products. The curcumin/
polysorbate solution or curcumin powder dissolved in alcohol is used for water containing 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).
Turmeric is widely used as a spice in Indian and other South Asian cooking. Momos (Nepali meat dumplings), a traditional dish in South Asia, are spiced with turmeric.
Medicine
In
Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is thought to have many
medicinal properties and many in India use it as a readily available
antiseptic for cuts, burns and
bruises. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine say it has
fluoride which is thought to be essential for teeth. It is also used as an
antibacterial agent.
It is taken in some
Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which allegedly helps with stomach problems and other ailments. It is popular as a tea in
Okinawa,
Japan. It is currently being investigated for possible benefits in
Alzheimer's disease,
cancer and
liver disorders.
It is only in recent years that Western scientists have increasingly recognised the
medicinal properties of turmeric. According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope," research activity into
curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is exploding. Two hundred and fifty-six curcumin papers were published in the past year according to a search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Supplement sales have increased 35% from 2004, and the U.S.
National Institutes of Health has four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for
pancreatic cancer,
multiple myeloma,
Alzheimer's, and
colorectal cancer.
A 2004 UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered mice suggests that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, might inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and also break up existing plaques. "Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a safe
anti-inflammatory in a variety of ailments as part of
Indian traditional medicine," Gregory Cole, Professor of medicine and
neurology at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA said.
Another 2004 study conducted at
Yale University involved oral administration of curcumin to mice homozygous for the most common allele implicated in
cystic fibrosis. Treatment with curcumin restored physiologically-relevant levels of protein function.
Anti-tumoral effects against
melanoma cells have been demonstrated.
Curry Pharmaceuticals
, based in North Carolina, is studying the use of a curcumin cream for
psoriasis treatment. Another company is already selling a cream based on curcumin called "Psoria-Gold," which shows anecdotal promise of treating the disease.
A recent study involving mice has shown that turmeric slows the spread of
breast cancer into lungs and other body parts. Turmeric also enhances the effect of
taxol in reducing
metastasis of
breast cancer.
Curcumin is thought to be a powerful antinociceptive (pain-relieving) agent. In the November 2006 issue of
Arthritis & Rheumatism, a study was published that showed the effectiveness of turmeric in the reduction of joint inflammation, and recommended clinical trials as a possible treatment for the alleviation of arthritis symptoms. It is thought to work as a natural inhibitor of the
cox-2 enzyme, and has been shown effective in animal models for neuropathic pain secondary to diabetes, among others.
It is interesting to note that lead contamination has become a concern for turmeric. Specifically, the turmeric supplements sold in the form of capsules were found to be contaminated (and lacking the stated ingredient amount in some cases) by the www.ConsumerLab.com website, evidenced by their lead story on the front web-page as of May 2008 and the corresponding testing results.
Cosmetics
Turmeric is currently used in the formulation of some
sunscreens. Turmeric paste is used by some Indian women to keep them free of superfluous hair. Turmeric paste is applied to bride and groom before marriage in some places of
India,
Bangladesh, and Pakistan, where it's believed turmeric gives glow to skin and keeps some harmful bacteria away from the body.
The Government of Thailand is funding a project to extract and isolate tetrahydrocurcuminoids (THC) from turmeric. THCs (not to be confused with
tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC) are colorless compounds that might have
antioxidant and skin-lightening properties and might be used to treat skin inflammations, making these compounds useful in cosmetics formulations.
Dye
Turmeric makes a poor fabric
dye as it isn't very lightfast (the degree to which a dye resists fading due to light exposure). However, turmeric is commonly used in Indian clothing, such as a sari.
Gardening
Turmeric can also be used to deter ants. The exact reasons why turmeric repels ants is unknown, but anecdotal evidence suggests it works.
Chemistry
Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 3%
curcumin, a
polyphenol. It is the active substance of turmeric and it's also known as C.I. 75300, or Natural Yellow 3. The systematic chemical name is (1
E,6
E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione.
It can exist at least in two
tautomeric forms, keto and enol. The keto form is preferred in solid phase and the enol form in solution.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Curcuma Longa'.
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