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Turmeric (Template:IPAc-en),<ref>Template:Cite Dictionary.com</ref><ref name="merriam-webster">Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref> or Curcuma longa (Template:IPAc-en),<ref>Template:Dictionary.com</ref><ref>Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref> is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between Template:Cvt and high annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption or dyeing.<ref name="pubchem">Template:Pubchem</ref>
The rhizomes can be used fresh, but they are often boiled in water and dried, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow shelf-stable spice powder commonly used as a coloring and flavoring agent in many Asian cuisines, especially for curries (curry powder). Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper-like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma.<ref name="drugs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Although long used in Ayurvedic medicine, there is no high-quality clinical evidence that consuming turmeric or the principal turmeric constituent, curcumin, is effective for treating any disease.<ref name="nelson">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="nccih">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Curcumin, a bright yellow chemical produced by the turmeric plant, is approved as a food additive by the World Health Organization, European Parliament, and United States Food and Drug Administration.<ref name="pubchem" /> Turmeric supplements have been an increasing cause of herb-induced liver injury, leading to government regulation.<ref name="hepa" />
Origin and distributionEdit
The greatest diversity of Curcuma species by number alone is in India, at around 40 to 45 species. Thailand has a comparable 30 to 40 species. Other countries in tropical Asia also have numerous wild species of Curcuma. Recent studies have also shown that the taxonomy of C. longa is problematic, with only the specimens from South India being identifiable as C. longa. The phylogeny, relationships, intraspecific and interspecific variation, and even identity of other species and cultivars in other parts of the world still need to be established and validated. Various species currently utilized and sold as "turmeric" in other parts of Asia have been shown to belong to several physically similar taxa, with overlapping local names.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Nair2013">Template:Cite book</ref>
HistoryEdit
Turmeric has been used in Asia for centuries and is a major part of Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, Unani,<ref name=Chattopadhyay>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the animistic rituals of Austronesian peoples.<ref name="KikusawaReid"/><ref name="McClatchey1993"/> It was first used as a dye, and then later for its supposed properties in folk medicine.<ref name=nelson/><ref name=nccih/>
In India, it spread with Hinduism and Buddhism, as the yellow dye is used to color the robes of monks and priests.<ref name="pickersgill">Template:Cite book</ref>
In Island Southeast Asia, there is linguistic and circumstantial evidence of the ancient use of turmeric among the Austronesian peoples soon after dispersal from Taiwan (starting Template:Circa), before contact with India. In Indonesia and the Philippines, turmeric was used for food, dyeing textiles, medicine, as well as body painting. It was commonly an important ingredient in various animistic rituals. Kikusawa and Reid (2007) have concluded that *kunij, the oldest reconstructed Proto-Malayo-Polynesian form for "turmeric" in the Austronesian languages, is primarily associated with the importance of its use as a dye. Other members of the genus Curcuma native to Southeast Asia (like Curcuma zedoaria) were also used for food and spice, but not as dyes.<ref name="KikusawaReid"/>
Turmeric (along with Curcuma zedoaria) was also spread with the Lapita people of the Austronesian expansion into Oceania. Turmeric can only be propagated with rhizomes, thus its pre-contact distribution into the Pacific Islands can only be via human introduction. The populations in Micronesia, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia (including as far as Hawaii and Easter Island) use turmeric widely for both food and dye before European contact.<ref name="KikusawaReid">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="McClatchey1993">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="pickersgill"/> In Micronesia, it was an important trade item in the sawei maritime exchange between Yap and further atolls in the Carolines, where it couldn't grow. In some smaller islands, the dye was extracted from the leaves, since the rhizomes remained too small in sandy soils. It was also carried by the Austronesian migrations to Madagascar.<ref name="KikusawaReid"/>
Turmeric was found in Farmana, dating to between 2600 and 2200 BCE, and in a merchant's tomb in Megiddo, Israel, dating from the second millennium BCE.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was noted as a dye plant in the Assyrians' Cuneiform medical texts from Ashurbanipal’s library at Nineveh from 7th century BCE.<ref name="pickersgill"/> In Medieval Europe, turmeric was called "Indian saffron."<ref name="pickersgill"/>
EtymologyEdit
The name possibly derives from Middle English or Early Modern English as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. It may be of Latin origin, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("deserved earth").<ref>Template:Dictionary.com</ref> The Latin specific epithet longa means long.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DescriptionEdit
Template:More citations needed section Turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches up to Template:Convert tall.<ref name=Kew/> It has highly branched, yellow to orange, cylindrical, aromatic rhizomes.<ref name=Kew/>
The leaves are alternate and arranged in two rows. They are divided into leaf sheath, petiole, and leaf blade.<ref name=Kew/> From the leaf sheaths, a false stem is formed. The petiole is Template:Convert long. The simple leaf blades are usually Template:Convert long and rarely up to Template:Convert. They have a width of Template:Convert and are oblong to elliptical, narrowing at the tip.<ref name=Kew/>
Inflorescence, flower, and fruitEdit
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.<ref name=":1">Template:Efloras</ref>
The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold. The three sepals are Template:Convert long, fused, and white, and have fluffy hairs; the three calyx teeth are unequal. The three bright-yellow petals are fused into a corolla tube up to Template:Convert long. The three corolla lobes have a length of Template:Convert 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 Template:Convert. Three carpels are under a constant, trilobed ovary adherent, which is sparsely hairy. The fruit capsule opens with three compartments.<ref name= Siewek>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=HKRS>Template:Cite book</ref>
In East Asia, the flowering time is usually in August. Terminally on the false stem is an inflorescence stem, Template:Convert long, containing many flowers. The bracts are light green and ovate to oblong with a blunt upper end with a length of Template:Convert.<ref name=":1" />
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PhytochemistryEdit
Turmeric powder is about 60–70% carbohydrates, 6–13% water, 6–8% protein, 5–10% fat, 3–7% dietary minerals, 3–7% essential oils, 2–7% dietary fiber, and 1–6% curcuminoids.<ref name=nelson/> The golden yellow color of turmeric is due to curcumin.<ref name=pubchem/>
Phytochemical components of turmeric include diarylheptanoids, a class including numerous curcuminoids, such as curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin.<ref name=nelson/><ref name=pubchem/> Curcumin constitutes up to 3.14% of assayed commercial samples of turmeric powder (the average was 1.51%); curry powder contains much less (an average of 0.29%).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some 34 essential oils are present in turmeric, among which turmerone, germacrone, atlantone, and zingiberene are major constituents.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
UsesEdit
CulinaryEdit
Template:More citations needed Turmeric is one of the key ingredients in many Asian dishes, imparting a mustard-like, earthy aroma and pungent, slightly bitter flavor to foods.<ref name=drugs/> It is used mostly in savory dishes, but also is used in some sweet dishes, such as the Lebanese cake sfouf. In India, turmeric 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 utensil (chondrõ).<ref name="tradition">Template:Citation</ref> Most turmeric is used in the form of rhizome powder to impart a golden yellow color.<ref name=drugs/> It is used in many products such as canned beverages, baked products, dairy products, ice cream, yogurt, yellow cakes, orange juice, biscuits, popcorn, cereals and sauces. It is a principal ingredient in curry powders.<ref name=drugs/><ref name=E100/> Although typically used in its dried, powdered form, turmeric also is used fresh, like ginger.<ref name=E100/>
Turmeric is used widely as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. Various Iranian khoresh recipes begin with onions caramelized in oil and turmeric. The Moroccan spice mix ras el hanout typically includes turmeric. In South Africa, turmeric is used to give boiled white rice a golden color, known as geelrys (yellow rice) traditionally served with bobotie. In Vietnamese cuisine, turmeric powder is used to color and enhance the flavors of certain dishes, such as bánh xèo, bánh khọt, and mì Quảng. The staple Cambodian curry paste, kroeung, used in many dishes, including fish 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 the Philippines, turmeric is used in the preparation and cooking of kuning, satti, and some variants of adobo. In Thailand, fresh turmeric rhizomes are used widely in many dishes, in particular in the southern Thai cuisine, such as yellow curry and turmeric soup. Turmeric is used in a hot drink called "turmeric latte" or "golden milk" that is made with milk, frequently coconut milk.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The turmeric milk drink known as haldī dūdh (haldī [{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}] means turmeric in Hindi) is a traditional Indian recipe. Sold in the US and UK, the drink known as "golden milk" uses nondairy milk and sweetener, and sometimes black pepper after the traditional recipe (which may also use ghee).<ref name=":0" />
Turmeric is approved for use as a food color, assigned the code E100.<ref name=pubchem/><ref name=E100>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The oleoresin is used for oil-containing products.<ref name=pubchem/>
In combination with annatto (E160b), turmeric has been used to color numerous food products.<ref name=pubchem/><ref name=E100/> Turmeric is used to give a yellow color to some prepared mustards, canned chicken broths, and other foodsTemplate:Mdashoften as a much cheaper replacement for saffron.<ref name=E100/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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Traditional usesEdit
In 2019, the European Medicines Agency concluded that turmeric herbal teas, or other forms taken by mouth, on the basis of their long-standing traditional use, could be used to relieve mild digestive problems, such as feelings of fullness and flatulence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia, where it is collected for use in classical Indian medicine (Siddha or Ayurveda).<ref name=nelson/> In Eastern India, the plant is used as one of the nine components of Template:Transliteration along with young plantain or banana plant, taro leaves, barley (Template:Transliteration), wood apple (Template:Transliteration), pomegranate (Template:Transliteration), Saraca indica, Template:Transliteration (Arum), or Template:Transliteration, and rice paddy. The Haldi ceremony called Template:Transliteration in Bengal (literally "yellow on the body") is a ceremony observed during wedding celebrations of people of Indian culture all throughout the Indian subcontinent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as a part of the Tamil–Telugu marriage ritual, a dried turmeric tuber tied with a string is used to create a Thali necklace. 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, Kankana Bandhana.<ref name=maha>Template:Cite book</ref> In many Hindu communities, turmeric paste is applied to the bride and groom as part of pre-wedding festivities known as the haldi ceremony.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Turmeric makes a poor fabric dye, as it is not light fast, but is commonly used in Indian clothing, such as saris and Buddhist monks' robes.<ref name="merriam-webster"/> During the late Edo period (1603–1867), turmeric was used to dilute or substitute more expensive safflower dyestuff in the production of Template:Transliteration.<ref name="Beni itajime">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp Friedrich Ratzel reported in The History of Mankind during 1896, that in Micronesia, turmeric powder was applied for embellishment of body, clothing, utensils, and ceremonial uses.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Native Hawaiians who introduced it to Hawaii (Template:Langx) make a bright yellow dye out of it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
IndicatorEdit
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
AdulterationEdit
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 ("red lead"). These additives give turmeric an orange-red color instead of its native gold-yellow, and such conditions led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue import alerts from 2013 to 2019 on turmeric originating in India and Bangladesh.<ref name="cowell">Template:Cite journal</ref> Imported into the United States in 2014 were approximately Template:Convert of turmeric, some of which was used for food coloring, traditional medicine, or dietary supplement.<ref name=cowell/> Lead detection in turmeric products led to recalls across the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom through 2016.<ref name=cowell/>
Lead chromate, a bright yellow chemical compound, was found as an adulterant of turmeric in Bangladesh, where turmeric is used commonly in foods and the contamination levels were up to 500 times higher than the national limit.<ref name="Forsyth">Template:Cite journal</ref> Researchers identified a chain of sources adulterating the turmeric with lead chromate: from farmers to merchants selling low-grade turmeric roots to "polishers" who added lead chromate for yellow color enhancement, to wholesalers for market distribution, all unaware of the potential consequences of lead toxicity.<ref name=Forsyth/>
Another common adulterant in turmeric, metanil yellow (also known as acid yellow 36), is considered by the British Food Standards Agency as an illegal dye for use in foods.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Medical researchEdit
Turmeric and curcumin have been studied in numerous clinical trials for various human diseases and conditions, with no high-quality evidence of any anti-disease effect or health benefit.<ref name=nelson/><ref name=nccih/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There is no scientific evidence that curcumin reduces inflammation, Template:As of.<ref name=nelson/><ref name=nccih/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There is weak evidence that turmeric extracts may be beneficial for relieving symptoms of knee osteoarthritis,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> as well as for reducing pain and muscle damage following physical exercise.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> There is good evidence that turmeric is an allergen.<ref name="pmid26705440">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Although turmeric is of low bioavailability, some supplements boost potency via a variety of preparation techniques. Turmeric supplements are hepatotoxic and have caused a recorded rise in incidence of herb-induced liver injury. In Italy, the government has banned any claims of turmeric health benefits and mandated warning for turmeric-based supplements.<ref name=hepa>Template:Cite journal</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Alpinia zerumbet
- Curcuma xanthorrhiza
- Curcuma zedoaria
- Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
- Etlingera elatior
- Kaempferia galanga
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Herbs & spices Template:Transient receptor potential channel modulators Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control