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Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Synonyms

pharmaceuticalRhizoma Curcumae
botanicalCurcuma domestica Valet., Curcuma rotunda
Amharicኢርድ
Ird
Arabicكركم, عقدة صفرا
كُرْكُم
Kurkum, Uqdah safra
Aramaicܥܩܪ ܟܘܪܟܡܐ
Eqar kurkma
ArmenianԹուրմերիգ
Toormerik, Turmerig
Assameseহালধি, হৰিদ্ৰা
Halodhi, Horidra
AzeriSarıkök
Сарыкөк
BelarusianКуркума, Жоўты імбір
Kurkuma, Žouty imbir
Bengaliহলুদ
Holud
Bodoहालदै
Halde
BretonKurkuma
BulgarianКуркума
Kurkuma
BurmeseHsanwen, Sa nwin, Sanae, Nanwin
CatalanCúrcuma
Chakma𑄃𑄮𑄣𑄮𑄘𑄴
Olod
ChineseYu chin, Yu jin
Chinese
(Cantonese)
黃薑 [wòhng gèung], 薑黃 [gèung wòhng], 鬱金 [wāt gām]
Wohng geung, Geung wohng, Wat gam
Chinese
(Mandarin)
黃薑 [huáng jiāng], 薑黃 [jiāng huáng], 鬱金 [yù jīn], 姜黄 [jiāng huáng], 鬱金香根 [yù jīn xiāng gēn]
Huang jiang, Jiang huang, Yu jin, Yu jin xiang gen
CroatianIndijski šafran, Kurkuma
CzechKurkuma, Indický Šafrán, Žlutý kořen, Žlutý zázvor
DanishGurkemeje
Dhivehiރީނދޫ
Reen'dhoo
Dogriहल्दी, बसार
Haldi, Bsar
DutchGeelwortel, Kurkuma, Tarmeriek, Koenjit, Koenir
Dzongkhaཡོང་ལཱ་
Yong la
EnglishIndian saffron
EsperantoKurkumo
EstonianHarilik kurkuma, Kurkum, Pikk kollajuur, Lõhnav kollajuur
Farsiزردچوبه
Zardchubeh
FinnishKurkuma, Keltajuuri
FrenchCurcuma, Safran des Indes, Terre-mérite, Souchet des Indes
GalicianCúrcuma
GaroHoldi
GermanCurcuma, Kurkuma, Indischer Safran, Gelbwurz
GreekΚιτρινόριζα, Κούρκουμη, Κουρκουμάς
Kitrinoriza, Kourkoumi, Kourkoumas
Gujaratiહળદર
Haldar
Hebrewכורכום
כּוּרכּוּם
Kurkum
Hindiहल्दी
Haldi
HmarAieng
HungarianKurkuma, Sárga gyömbérgyökér
IcelandicTúrmerik
IndonesianKunyit, Kunir; Daun kunyit (leaves)
ItalianCurcuma
Japanese鬱金
うこん
ウコン, ターメリック
Ukon, Tamerikku
Kannadaಅರಿಷಿಣ, ಅರಿಸಿನ
Arishina, Arisina
Kashmiriلدر
Ladar
KhasiShynrai
KhmerRomiet, Lomiet, Lamiet
Korean강황, 컬쿠마, 심황, 터메릭, 투메릭, 울금, 울금은
Kang-hwang, Keolkuma, Kolkuma, Sim-hwang, Teomerik, Tomerik, Tumerik, Ulgum, Ulgumun
Laoຂະໝິ້ນ, ຂີ້ໝີ້ນ
Khamin, Khimin, Khi min khun
LatvianKurkuma
LithuanianCiberžolė, Kurkuma, Dažinė ciberžolė
Maithiliहरैद, हर्दी
Hared, Hardi
MalayKunyit basah
Malayalamമഞ്ഞള്‍, മഞ്ഞൾ
Manjal, Manyal
Manipuri (Meitei-Lon)য়াইঙং, মচু
ꯌꯥꯢꯉꯪ, ꯃꯆꯨ
Yaingang, Machu
Marathiहळद
Halad
MizoAi-eng
MongolianКуркума
Kurkuma
Naga (Rongmei)Injaikaraim
Naga (Tangkhul)Yaingang
Nepaliबेसार, हल्दी
Besar; more rarely Haldi, Hardi
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
हलु
Halu
NorwegianGurkemeie
Oriyaହଳଦୀ, ହଳଦି
Haladi
PahlaviZard-choobag
PashtoZarchoba
PolishKurkuma, Ostryż długi, Szafran indyjski; Kłącze kurkumy (turmeric rhizome)
PortugueseAçafrão da Índia, Curcuma, Açafrão da terra
Punjabiਹਲਦੀ
Haldi
RomanianCurcumă
RussianИмбирь жёлтый, Имбирь желтый, Корень куркумы, Куркума
Imbir zhyoltyj, Imbir zheltyj, Koren kurkumy, Kurkuma
SanskritHaridra, Marmarii, Nisha, Rajani
SantaliSasang
SerbianЖутњак, Зердечаф, Куркума, Жути ингвер
Žutnjak, Zerdečaf, Kurkuma, Žuti ingver
Sinhalaකහ
Kaha
SlovakKurkuma
SlovenianKurkuma
SpanishCúrcuma, Azafrán arabe
SwahiliManjano
SwedishGurkmeja
TagalogDilaw
TajikЗард чова
Zard chova
Tamilமஞ்சள்
Manjal
Teluguహరిద్ర, పసుపు
Haridra, Pasupu
Thaiขมิ้นชัน, ขมิ้น; ว่านชักมดลูก, ขมิ้นเหลือง
Kha min chan, Khamin luang, Kha min; Wanchakmotluk (C. xanthorrhiza)
Tibetanསྒ་སེར་, ཡུང་པ་
Gaser, Sga ser, Yung pa
Tigrinyaህሩድ
Herud
Tuluಮಂಜಲು
Manjalu
TurkishHint safranı, Sarı boya, Sarı kölk, Zerdeçal, Safran kökü, Zerdali, Zerdeçöp, Zerdecube
UkrainianКуркума
Kurkuma
Urduہلدی, زرد چوب
Haldi, Zard chub
VietnameseBột nghệ, Củ nghệ, Nghệ, Uất kim, Khương hoàng
Bot nghe, Cu nghe, Nghe, Uat kim, Khuong hoang
Yiddishקורקומע
Kurkume
Curcuma longa/domestica: Fresh tumeric rhizome
Fresh turmeric rhizome
Curcuma longa: Dried turmeric rootstock
Dried turmeric rhizome
Used plant part

Rhizome. Fresh turmeric leaves are used in some regions of Indonesia as a flavouring, e. g., in Western Sumatra.

The rhizome consists of two distict types of tubers: The primary tuber has a round shape and a striped appearence due to the presence of old scale leaves; it is the base for the growth of shoots. Finger-like, moderately branched lateral rhizomes develop over time. In trade, the former are referred to as Curcuma rotunda and the latter as Curcuma longa, although their properties do not differ much.

Those two trade names are no botanical binomials; rather, both products stem from Curcuma longa. To make things worse, Curcuma rotunda is an outdated synonym for Kaempferia rotunda, a plant closely related to lesser galanga.

Curcuma domestica: Rhizomes (roots) called Curcuma longa and Curcuma rotunda
Fresh turmeric rhizome on an Indian market. Both the round central part and the elongated lateral rhizomes are seen.
Curcuma longa/domestica: Fresh tumeric rhizome
Fresh turmeric rhizome

kanchanapisek.or.th       © Thai Junior Encyclopedia

Plant family

Zingiberaceae (ginger family).

Sensory quality

In fresh state, the rhizome has an aromatic and spicy fragrance, which by drying gives way to a more medicinal aroma. On storing, the smell rather quickly changes to earthy and unpleasant. Similarly, the colour of ground turmeric tends to fade if the spice is stored too long.

Main constitu­ents

Turmeric contains up to 5% essen­tial oil, which consists of a variety of sesqui­terpenes, many of which are specific on the genus or species level. Most impor­tant for the aroma are turmerone (max. 30%), ar-turmerone (25%) and zingiberene (25%). Conjugated Diaryl­heptanoids (1,7-diaryl-hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-diones, e. g. curcumin) are responsible for the orange colour and probably also for the pungent taste (3 to 4%).

The Jawanese species C. xanthorrhiza contains 6 to 11% essential oil, which is dominated by 1-cyclo-isoprenemyrcene (up to 85%); it furthermore contains a phenolic sesquiterpene missing from C. longa, xanthorrizol, which makes up max. 20% of the essential oil.

Curcuma longa: Tumeric inflorescence
Turmeric flower cluster

Photo: Ben-Erik van Wyk
(Food Plants of the World, Briza Publications)

Curcuma longa/domestica: Turmeric flower
Turmeric flower (close-up)

http://members.nbci.com

Origin

Because of an­cient culti­vation, the origin of tur­meric can­not be ac­curate­ly recon­structed; probably South East Asia or South Asia. Turmeric is a triploid plant and arose from hybridization between Wild turmeric (C. aromatica) with an unidentied relative. Turmeric rarely flowers and even if it does, it will never produce fruits; rather, as with with all triploid plants, it must propagate asexually.

A related species, C. xanthor­rhiza, grows on Jawa, where it is called temu lawak; in taste and culinary merits, it is equivalent to C. longa.

Etymology

In many languages, the names of turmeric just mean yellow root: Dutch geel­wortel, German Gelb­wurz, Arabic uqdah safra [عقدة صفرا], Finnish kelta­juuri [keltainen yellow and juuri root] and Modern Greek kitrino­riza [κιτρινό­ριζα], where kitrinos [κίτρινος] means yellow, probably an allusion to lemon or similar citrus fruits. The same meaning is found in the species name of the Jawa­nese variety of turmeric, C. xanthor­rhiza: Ancient Greek xanthe rhiza [ξανθὴ ῥίζα] yellow root. Other names relate turmeric to related rhizomes, adding an epithet yellow, e. g., Chinese huang jiang [黃薑] and Russian imbir zhyoltyj [имбирь жёлтый] yellow ginger (from zhyoltyj [жёлтый] yellow) and Czech žlutý zázvor yellow zedoary. Serbian has, among others, žutņak [жутњак] the yellow one, a noun formed from the adjective žuti [жути] yellow.

English turmeric derives from the (now obsolete) French terre-mérite (Latin terra merita, meritorious earth), probably because ground turmeric resembles mineral pigments (ochre).

Curcuma alismatifolia: Ornamental turmeric inflorescense
Ornamental turmeric flowers (C. alismatifolia)
Curcuma longa: Turmeric inflorescence
Flowering turmeric on a field in Nepal
Curcuma longa: Turmeric flower inside an inflorescence
Turmeric flower

The genus na­me Curcuma likens turmeric to saffron, the most relevant yellow plant dye in the An­cient World. Curcuma is Latini­zation of Arabic al-kurkum [الكركم], which ori­ginally meant saffron but is now used for turmeric only. Compare also the name of saffron in Bib­lical He­brew, karkom [כרכם]. In most con­tem­porary Euro­pean lan­guages, the names of tur­meric are derived more or less directly from Latin cur­cuma. Examples include Finnish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian and Dutch kur­kuma [кур­кума], French and Italian cur­cuma, Spanish cúr­cuma and Romanian cur­cumă. Scandi­navian names show stronger variation from the rest: Danish gurke­meje, Norwegian gurke­meie and Swedish gurk­meja.

The similarity to saffron is reflected by names like Indian saffron in several European tongues: German indischer Safran, Croatian indijski šafran, French safran des Indes or Turkish hint safranı. Compare also Spanish azafrán arabe Arabic saffron. On the other side, saffron is named nghe tay [nghệ tây] Western turmeric in Vietnam, where turmeric is native and saffron just an exotic oddity.

Curcuma longa: Turmeric inflorescence (flowers)
Inflorescence of turmeric; an open flower is seen bottom right

The toponym India has a long history. It is derived from Sanskrit sindhu [सिंधु] river, which was particularly used for the Indus River in North-Western India. There is the speculation that the Sanskrit term itself is a loan from Dravidian languages and corresponds to the Dravidian root CĪNT date palm tree (Modern Tamil intu [ஈந்து]). Was the Indus River, then, originally the river where the palm trees grow?

The Greeks took their designation for the country from the Persian form of the same name, hindush, and named it Indike chora [Ἰνδικὴ χώρα] Indian land (properly land around the Indus river) and later simply India [Ἰνδία]; that name became common in the Hellenistc era and spread, via Latin India, to almost all Western European languages. Western and Central Asian names mostly come dirctly from the Persian, e. g., Kazakh ündi [үнді], Arabic al-hind [الهند] and of course Farsi hindustan [هندوستان] India; also Farsi hendi [هندی] and Turkish Hint Indian.

The suffix -stan, found in Hindustan and many modern country names, is also of Persian origin and related to Sanskrit sthana [स्थान] home, place of abiding.

Because of the strong association between India and spices in Europe, many spices contain an India-Element in their names. Examples are, besides Indian saffron for turmeric, designations like Indian nut (coconut, nutmeg), Indian date (tamarind), Indian anise (star anise), Indian parsley (coriander) and many more. In Indian cress (nasturtium), however, the epithet points not to India but to Latin America.

Curcuma longa: Turmeric plants
Turmeric plants
Curcuma longa: Turmeric plants with inforescence
Flowering turmeric plants

In the greater part of India, the local names of turmeric relate to Sanskrit haridra [हरिद्रा]; yet the analysis is made more difficult as haridra has no Indo–Euro­pean origin, but is a loan from an unknown substrate language. Almost all modern Indo–Aryan tongues have names of this kin, e. g. Hindi, Urdu und Punjabi haldi [हल्दी, ہلدی, ਹਲਦੀ], Kashmiri ladar [لدر], Bengali holud [হলুদ], and Oriya haladi [ହଳଦୀ]. Among the few exceptions are Sinhala kaha [කහ] and Nepali besar [बेसार] (similar to Dogri bsar [बसार], both probably bor­rowed from the same Hima­layan source); yet Sino–Tibetean Newari has a Sankrit-based form halu [हलु], which ob­vious­ly cannot be ex­plained as a bor­rowing from Nepali.

Among those Indian languages not belonging to the Indo–European family, names of the widely used turmeric are much more diverse. Deep in the South, we find a cluster (Tamil and Malayalam manjal [மஞ்சள், മഞ്ഞൾ], Tulu manjalu [ಮಂಜಲು]), but in the more Northern Dravidian languages, independent names show up: Kannada arisina [ಅರಿಷಿಣ] and Telugu pasupu [పసుపు]. The only example from the Munda family I was able to research is Santali sasang; it would be interesting to learn whether other Munda languages have names that could qualify as a source of Sanskrit haridra.

Curcuma longa: Turmeric plants growing in a Sri Lankan tourist spice garden
Turmeric plants growing in a Sri Lankan tourist spice garden

Among the Hima­layan lan­guages, Tibetan gaser [སྒ་སེར་] should be mentioned, as it looks con­spicious­ly similar to a pan-Indian name for saffron exempli­fied by Hindi kesar [केसर]; however, the ortho­graphy of the Tibetan word does not point to a recent loan. Native lan­guages of North Eastern India, usually be­longing to the Kuki–Chin branch of the Sino–Tibetan lan­guage family, have local names for tur­meric that seem related, e. g., Mani­puri yai-ngang [য়াইঙং, ꯌꯥꯢꯉꯪ], Rongmei Naga injaikaraim, Mizo and Hmar ai-eng; the unrelated Khasi has shynrai. A few of the North Eastern languages have borrowed the name from Indic tongues, perhaps Hindi or Bengali: Garo holdi and Bodo holde [हालदै]).

Some East African names of turmeric, Amharic ird [ኢርድ] and Tigrinya herud [ህሩድ], present a very special case: They show an almost uncanny resemblance to the Indian forms, which fits nicely to the observations that Ethiopia and Eritrea are the only countries outside of Asia that employ turmeric in their foods, and that these countries have a long tradition of seafare, as they lie conveniently on the sea route between India and Europe. Moreover, Ethiopian spice blends have many points in common with Indian ones (see long pepper for a more thourough discussion).

Selected Links

Indian Spices: Turmeric (indianetzone.com) Indian Spices: Wild Ginger (indianetzone.com) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Kurkuma (rezkonv.de via archive.org) Plant Cultures: Turmeric A Pinch of Turmeric (www.apinchof.com) The Epicentre: Turmeric Chinese Herb Database: Turmeric Sorting Curcuma names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Medical Spice Exhibit: Turmeric Rain Tree: Turmeric Product Information Turmeric (spizes.com)


Curcuma longa/domestica: Turmeric plant
Turmeric plant

www.csdl.tamu.edu

Curcuma longa: Turmeric plant with rhizome exposed
Turmeric plant with rhizome exposed
Curcuma longa: Turmeric stems with yellow rhizome
Turmeric stems with rhizome (cut to show the orange interior)
Turmeric is a very im­portant spice in India, which pro­duces nearly the whole world’s crop and uses 80% of it. Tur­meric usage dates back nearly 4000 years, to the Vedic culture in India, when turmeric was the principal spice and also of religious signi­ficance. Still today, it is employed in some Hindu rituals, where the yellow colour symbolizes the sun. That cultic usage of turmeric is more common in the South than in the North.
Curcuma longa: Turmeric plant with rhizome exposed
Turmeric plant with rhizome exposed

Contempo­rary Indian cooking employs dried and ground turmeric liberally. It is added to nearly every dish, be it meat or veg­etables. I found the lar­gest quanti­ties of it in boiled lentils (see also dill) or potatoes. The typical pro­cedure is to fry turmeric in some oil at the be­gin­ning of the cooking process (see onion for a detail­led de­scrip­tion), which releases its aroma and imparts a deep yellow colour to to cooking liquid.

Further­more, turmeric appears in rice dishes (pullao [पुलाव]), although turmeric-dyed rice is not very common in India, which might surprise people who consider curry rice typical Indian. Yet it is commonly used for fried rice, particularly in the South. Fried noodles are a typical food of the moun­tains in North­ern and North East­ern India; in Nepal, they are usually fla­voured with turmeric, while the Indian versions are mostly free of it. All over India and Nepal, fried noodles are called chow mien [चाउ मीन] and considered a Chinese food (from Chinese chao mian [炒面]), although the flavouring is very much indianized, particularly in Nepal.

Curcuma longa: Turmeric plants on a field
Turmeric plants on a field in Bangladesh
Curcuma longa: Almost ripe turmeric plants with yellow leaves
Before harvest time, the leaves wither

Also, turmeric is part of all curry powders (see curry leaves for more infor­mation on this Anglo Indian spice mixture). Probably due to Indian influence, turmeric has also made its way to the cuisine of Ethiopia (see long pepper), where it is used in pretty the same way.

In South East Asia, the fresh spice is much pre­ferred to the dried. In Thai­land, the fresh rhizome is grated and added to curry dishes; it is also part of the yellow curry paste (see coco­nut for more on Thai curries and curry pastes).

Yellow rice (nasi kuning) is popular on the East­ern islands of Indo­nesia; it derives its colour from fresh or dried tur­meric. In Bali, where alone in Indo­nesia Hin­duism has sur­vived, a tasty nasi kuning is prepared from rice, tur­meric, coconut milk and aro­matic leaves (Indo­nesian bay-leaf, lemon grass and pandanus leaves). It is con­sidered a cultic dish and sacri­ficed to the Gods; no-one who has ever visited Bali will forget the masses of Bali­nese streaming to temples and sacri­ficing, among other gifts, cones of yellow rice, e. g. in Bali’s most important temple at Besakih (see also Indo­nesian bay-leaf for some details about Balinese cooking and lesser galanga for a famous Balinese recipe). On Jawa, Indonesia’s most populous island, Hinduism has been abolished in favour of Islâm; yet nasi kuning is still held a somewhat sacred dish. Moreover, Indonesian cooks frequently add dried turmeric to their stews and curries (see greater galangale for an example).

Curcuma longa: Turmeric plant
Turmeric plant
Curcuma longa: Dug turmeric roots on a field
Turmeric rhizomes just unearthed on a field

Western cuisine does not use turmeric directly, but it forms part of several spice mixtures (see above about curry powder) and sauces; it is also used to impart a bright yellow colour to mustard paste (see white mustard seed).

Turmeric is some­times confused with saffron because of similar stain­ing capa­bil­ities, al­though saffron gives a more orange colour. Since turmeric does not share the fasci­nating aroma of saffron, it is not an accept­able sub­stitute or even alter­native to it! See annatto for a survey of food colour­ings.

Curcuma longa: Turmeric field in Nepal with inflorescence
Flowering turmeric plant in a field in Nepal

The staining capa­bil­ity of turmeric, particularly in the fresh state, may seem a nuisance to every­body who must clean cooking tools — cutting boards are parti­cularly hard to clean with brush and soap alone. The dye is, how­ever, not light-proof and fades away after but one hour in direct sunlight.

Turmeric is al­most always sold to con­sumers in ground form. This is reason­able as the dried spice is very dif­fi­cult to grind under house­hold condi­tions (an electric coffee grinder, for example, is very likely to fail with the hard rhizome); on the other hand, the powder loses its fra­grance very quickly: After a few months, only the staining power and an earthy flavour will remain. Thus, it is wise to buy tur­meric in small size and use it up quickly; pro­viding good storage condi­tions (airtight, dark, dry, cool) is more es­sential than for many other spices.

The plant known as white tur­meric is a close rela­tive of tur­meric (zedoary), whose fresh rhi­zome is not so much used as a spice, but eaten as a very tasty vege­table. You can do the same with ordinary yellow turmeric, but it will stain your teeth yellow.



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