Turmeric (Curcuma longa L. Zingiberaceae) is a native of Tropical Asia- specifically India. Sometimes turmeric is also called 'Indian saffron' because of its brilliant yellow color. It has been used as a dye, medicine, and flavor agent since 600 BC. It is reported that Marco Polo described Turmeric as "a vegetable with the properties of saffron" in 1280. Indonesians used Turmeric to color their bodies as part of their wedding ritual. Turmeric has been used medicinally throughout Asia to treat stomach and liver ailments. It was also used externally, to heal sores, and as a cosmetic.

India is the world's primary producer of Turmeric. It is also grown in China, Taiwan, Japan, Burma, Indonesia, and throughout Africa. In India it is most popular since ancient times as a food-coloring agent and/or a condiment used in almost every dish and as an age-old beauty treatment used by Indian women during body and face wash. Regular topical application of turmeric from a very young age is believed to reduce hair growth in women and ensure smooth clear skin.

To this day, Hindu brides paint themselves with turmeric as part of the wedding ceremony, while married women rub it into their cheeks for an attractive golden glow. Turmeric plants are also used in Hindu religious ceremonies and the roots valued as a priceless gift. In Asia, turmeric is considered a sign of auspiciousness and a good luck charm; newborn babies have it rubbed on their forehead and cheeks; pieces of roots are made into a necklace for wear to keep off evil spirits.

Turmeric is a perennial plant with oblong rhizomes deep orange inside; mature leaves are about 2 feet long, lanceolate, with a petiole and tapering at each end, smooth, of a uniform green; flowers are pale yellow, three or five together surrounded by bracteole. It is propagated by cuttings from the rhizome, which has a distinct fragrance and a slightly bitter taste.Turmeric is commercially available as fresh or dried rhizome or as powder in Asian grocery stores and as encapsulated powder in health food stores and Pharmacies. It is an essential ingredient of curry powder and is used extensively in Indian dishes, and in almost all Southeast Asian cooking. Turmeric is also added to pickles and relishes and occasionally used in place of saffron to provide color and flavor.

Turmeric is used extensively in the Indian medical systems (Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha) and is officially entered in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India1. In both the Ayurvedic and Siddha systems of medicine, a turmeric paste is used topically as well as internally to treat ulcers and scabies2. Turmeric also serves as a disinfectant and antiseptic in treatment of wounds. It is also used extensively in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicines- it is official in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China3 and in the Japanese Herbal Medicines Codex4. Its modern scientifically approved applications originate from its traditional uses in Asia.

Turmeric contains curcumin and an essential oil (turmerone, zingiberins). Curcumin is one of the diet-derived "promising" chemopreventive agents studied for its anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant properties5. Curcumin has anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects6; possesses antifungal and antibacterial properties7; demonstrated effects of lowering cholesterol levels and ulcers, antioxidant, antimutagen, and anticarcinogen properties in numerous studies (8-12). Reportedly, turmeric is effective in the treatment of a number of conditions including arthritis, digestion, liver protection, and obesity.

References
1. Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API), 1989. New Delhi: Government of India--Ministry of Health and Family Welfare--Department of Health. 45-46.
2. Charles and Charles, 1992. The use and efficacy of Azadirachta indica ('Neem') and Curcuma longa ('Turmeric') in scabies. A pilot study. Trop Geogr Med 44:178-181.
3. Tu, (ed.). 1992. Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (English Edition ). Beijing: Guangdong Science and Technology Press. 202-203.
4. The Japanese Standards for Herbal Medicines (JSHM), 1993. Tokyo: Yakuji Nippo, Ltd. 279.
5. Kelloff et al., 2000. Progress in cancer chemoprevention: development of diet-derived chemopreventive agents J Nutr 130(2S Suppl):467S-471S.
6. But et al. (eds.), 1997. International Collation of Traditional and Folk Medicine. Singapore: World Scientific. 207-208.
7. Roth et al., 1998. Novel bioactivities of Curcuma longa constituents. J Nat Prod 61:542-545.
8. Dorai et al., 2000. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in human prostate cancer. II. Curcumin inhibits tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor and depletes the protein. Mol Urol 4:1-6
9. Graf, 2000. Herbal anti-inflammatory agents for skin disease. Skin Therapy Lett 5:3-5
10. Polasa et al., 1992. Effect of turmeric on urinary mutagens in smokers. Mutagenesis 7:107-109.
11. Selvam et al., 1995. The anti-oxidant activity of turmeric (Curcuma longa). J Ethnopharmacol 47:59-67.
12. Van Dau et al., 1998. The effects of traditional drug, turmeric (Curcuma longa), and placebo on the healing of duodenal ulcer. Phytomedicine 5:29-34.

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