Friday, January 23, 2009

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Curcuma
Species: C. longa

Binomial name
Curcuma longa
Linnaeus[1]


Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20� C and 30� 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.

The rhizomes are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a spice in curries and other South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, for dyeing, and to impart color to mustard condiments. Its active ingredient is curcumin and it has an earthy, bitter, peppery flavor and a mustardy smell.

Turmeric is often misspelled (or pronounced) as tumeric. In medieval Europe, turmeric became known as Indian Saffron, since it is widely used as an alternative to the far more expensive saffron spice.

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.[2]

Usage
Culinary uses

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.

Although usually used in its dried, powdered form, Turmeric is also used fresh - much like ginger. It has numerous uses in far east recipes, such as fresh turmeric pickle (which contains large chunks of soft turmeric).

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 South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. Momos (Nepali meat dumplings), a traditional dish in South Asia, are spiced with turmeric.


Medicinal uses
Main article: Curcumin
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.

Turmeric rhizomeIt is only in recent years that Western scientists have increasingly recognised the medicinal properties of turmeric. In the latter half of the 20th century, curcumin was identified as responsible for most of the biological effects of turmeric. According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal, research activity into curcumin is exploding. In that year supplement sales increased 35% from 2004, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health had four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's, and colorectal cancer.

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 is 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 great fabric dye but it is not very lightfast (the degree to which a dye resists fading due to light exposure). Colour fastness will remain for long time before redyeing is necessary approximately once yearly. Turmeric is commonly used in Indian clothing, such as saris. No mordant is required when using turmeric saving a step in the dye process & eliminating the use of potentially toxic mordants. Turmeric produces beautiful golds, yellows & greenish yellow, reddish brwon, ochre etc depending on the fibre used & how many times the daybath is used. Lots of reliable information ( online, local library, bookstores etc) is readily available regarding natural dyeing with turmeric


Gardening
Turmeric can also be used to deter ants. The exact reasons why turmeric repels ants is unknown, but anecdotal evidence suggests it works.[citation needed]


Ceremonial uses
Turmeric is also used in various rituals, such as the turmeric ceremony or gaye holud, part of the Bengali wedding.

Names in other languages
European languages
Curcuma in French and Portuguese
C�rcuma or Palillo (South America) in Spanish
Kurkuma in Finnish, Hungarian, and Polish
Kurkuma or Japonsk� �afr�n (lit. "Japanese saffron") in Czech
Kurkuma or Geelwortel (lit. "yellow root") in Dutch
Kurkuma or Gelbwurz (lit. "yellow root") in German
??????? kurkuma in Macedonian and Russian
Gurkemeje in Danish
Gurkemeie in Norwegian
Gurkmeja in Swedish

Middle Eastern languages
???? kurkum in Arabic
????? ??? deghin koch (lit. "yellow seed") in Armenian
Sarik�k (lit. "yellow root") in Azeri
?????? kurkum in Hebrew
???????????? zardachawa in Kurdish
??????? zardchubeh in Persian
Zerde�al, Hint safrani (lit. "Indian saffron") in Turkish

South Asian languages
??????? haridra or ????????? varavar?ini in Sanskrit
???? holdi or ???? holud (lit. "yellow") in Bengali
haldar in Gujarati
????? haldi in Hindi
??? ha?ad in Marathi
????? haldi or besar in Nepali
haladi in Oriya
???? haldi in Punjabi
haldi in Urdu
????? andi in Bishnupriya Manipuri
?????? arishina in Kannada
?0??? Manjal in Tulu
??????? manjal in Malayalam
???? palu in Nepal Bhasa
Kaha in Sinhala
?????? manjal (lit. "yellow") in Tamil
????? pasupu in Telugu

[edit] East and Southeast Asian languages
?? jiang huang (lit. "ginger yellow") in Chinese
Kunyit in Indonesian and Malay
?? ukon in Japanese
Lmeat in Khmer
?? kang hwang in Korean
????? khamin in Thai
Ngh? in Vietnamese

Other languages
�Olena in Hawaiian
Safran in Mauritian Creole
Haruut in Somali

Chemistry
Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 3% curcumin, a polyphenol. It is the active substance of turmeric and it is also known as C.I. 75300, or Natural Yellow 3. The systematic chemical name is (1E,6E)-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.


References
^ "Curcuma longa information from NPGS/GRIN". www.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
^ SANGLI...The Turmeric City of India n home of brights

Source from wikipedia

Tags : Curcuma longa, kunyit, Turmeric, Tanaman OBAT,

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