Turmeric
is the boiled, dried, cleaned and polished rhizomes of Curcuma longa. The plant
is a herbaceous perennial, 60-90 cm high, with a short stem and tufted leaf.
There are 7 to 12 leaves, the leaf sheaths forms the pseudo stem. The lamina is
green above and pale green below and has a length of 30-40 cm and width 8-12
cm. Inflorescence is a central spike of 10-15 cm length. 1-4 flowers are born
in axil of the bract opening one at a time. About 30 flowers are produced in a
spike. Seeds are produced in capsules and there will be one to numerous sunken
capsules in an inflorescence.
Turmeric
is the boiled, dried, cleaned and polished rhizomes of Curcuma longa. The plant
is a herbaceous perennial, 60-90 cm high, with a short stem and tufted leaf.
There are 7 to 12 leaves, the leaf sheaths forms the pseudo stem. The lamina is
green above and pale green below and has a length of 30-40 cm and width 8-12
cm. Inflorescence is a central spike of 10-15 cm length. 1-4 flowers are born
in axil of the bract opening one at a time. About 30 flowers are produced in a
spike. Seeds are produced in capsules and there will be one to numerous sunken
capsules in an inflorescence. Turmeric is a tropical crop cultivated from sea
level to 1200 meter MSL. It grows in light black, black clayey loams and red
soils in irrigated and rain fed conditions. The crop cannot stand water logging
or alkalinity.
Turmeric
is used to flavour and to colour foodstuffs. It is a principal ingredient in
curry powder. Turmeric oleoresin is used in brine pickles and to some extent in
mayonnaise and relish formulations, non-alcoholic beverages, gelatins, butter
and cheese etc. The colour cur cumin extracted from turmeric is used as a colorants.
Turmeric is also used as a dye in textile industry. It is used in the
preparation of medicinal oils, ointments and poultice. It is stomachic,
carminative, tonic, blood purifier and an antiseptic. It is used in cosmetics.
The aqueous extracts has biopesticidal properties.
Spanish
: Curcuma French : Curcuma German : Kurkuma Gelbwurzel Swedish : Gurkmeja Arabic
: Kurkum Dutch : Geelwortel Italian : Curcuma Portuguese : Acafrao-da-India
Russian : Zholty Imbir Japanese : Ukon Chinese : Yu.Chin Hindi : Haldi Bengali : Halud, Pitras Gujarati :
Haldhar, Haldi Kannada : Arishia Konkani : Halad Malayalam : Manjal Marathi :
Halede, Halad Oriya : Haldil Punjabi : Haldar, Haldhar, Haldi Sanskrit :
Haladi, Harita Tamil : Manjal Telugu : Pasupu Urdu : Haladi