What exactly is turmeric?

With all the rhetoric about turmeric online and in every health publication you read, you'd think everyone would know what turmeric is by now. Yet misconceptions and mistaken claims are so widespread that it's no wonder many people are confused. So here's the lowdown on turmeric.

First, turmeric is a tropical plant. Turmeric grows in tropical climates around the world. Most turmeric comes from India and Indonesia, but it's cultivated in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hawai'i, Central and South America, Mexico and Haiti, amongst others. Its period to maturity is a long nine to eleven months, depending on the species and variety. So it is harvested only once a year. Most turmeric for sale in western countries is Curcuma longa, and most of what is written about turmeric refers to that as well. But there are several others. C. xanthorrhiza is a less common species but has most of the same active compounds as C. longa. C. aromatica is a decorative species with beautiful pink flowers, but a much lower level of active compounds. Some other species are marketed as having extreme levels of the curcuminoids (the primary active constituents), but these claims are exaggerated. There are some differences between species, and between varieties of Curcuma longa. But there are no species with significantly higher amounts of the curcuminoids and other compounds than are found in C. longa. Some of the claims come simply from different methods of analysis. Supercritical CO2 methods typically extract a higher percentage of the curcuminoids than traditional solvent extraction, for example. So a lab that uses CO2 extraction will report a higher level of curcuminoids for the same sample of turmeric.

For the botanically inclined, most of the turmeric available around the world has the following taxonomy:

Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Zingiberaceae
Genus:	Curcuma
Species:	C. longa

The most commonly used part of the turmeric plant is its rhizome. Rhizomes look like roots, but they are actually an underground extension of the stems of certain plants. The reference to them as roots came about in part because of their underground growth. Some people writing about turmeric simply assumed that they must be roots. But it's likely also that the companies that first began to export turmeric powder from India and Indonesia used a word that was translated into English as 'root.' The distinction isn't really important from the point of view of turmeric's use, but strictly speakng, the part we use is a 'rhizome,' not a root.

Turmeric's various names

Turmeric has a variety of names around the world, but many of its names are related to its rich yellow color. Other names refer to its use or to its perceived value. The Hindi word for turmeric is 'haldi,' which comes from the Sanskrit word for yellow. Other Sanskrit words used to refer to turmeric were 'tamasini' (beautiful as the night) and 'kanchani' (golden goddess).

In China, too, turmeric's name is derived from its color: jianghuang, which means 'yellow ginger' (turmeric and ginger are closely related, in fact).

The English word 'turmeric' is thought to be derived from the Latin 'terra merita' (meritorious earth, or perhaps valuable earth). There is no direct evidence for this derivation, and no known reason for the Latin term. But one Old English word was 'tarmaret,' which could easily have been derived from 'terra merita.'

The word 'curcuma' comes from the Arabic word kurkum (derived from Sanskrit kurkuma), which means “saffron,” another spice with a similarly rich yellow-orange color.

Turmeric in history

Turmeric has a documented history of use going back more than 4000 years.

The writings of Ayurveda (the medical system originating very early in India) mention turmeric as both a food and a medicine from before 2000BC. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) also has very early records of the use of turmeric.

A more recent example of turmeric's use is an advertisement from 1782 (or perhaps 1784-the British Library reference contains both dates).

...It is exceeding pleasant and healthful - renders the stomach active in digestion - the blood naturally free in circulation - the mind vigorous, and contributes most of any food to an increase of the human race.

An interesting point is that many of the now-established benefits of turmeric are listed in this advertisement: improvements in digestion, circulation, mental acuity and reproduction. It's clear that turmeric was in use well before that date, however, as it was mentioned in the 1747 Art of Cookery, Fast and Easy, by Hannah Glasse, in a recipe for turmeric pickle.

The 1831 edition of Mrs. Mary Randolph's Virginia Housewife included a recipe for a curry dish, the first mention in a US cookbook.

But the use of turmeric was mentioned by a Western physician even earlier, in the 1586 medical tome by Garcia da Orta, physician to the Portuguese Viceroy of India. The book is a series of colloquies (discussions) between Orta and a colleague (or perhaps a student) named Ruano. In this translation, Orta primarily refers to turmeric as 'Acafram de Terra.' But in earlier paragraphs, he says 'There is something to say of this medicine, as it is used by native physicians. It is a medicine and article of commerce which is taken much to Arabia and Persia. In this city there is little of it, but much in the Malabar ports of Cananore and Calicut. The Canarese call this plant Alad, and it is the same in Malayalim, more correctly Manjale. The name in Malay is Cunhet, in Persian Darzard, which means a yellow stick. In Arabic it is Habet. One and all declare that this Acafrao does not grow in Persia, Arabia, or Turkey, but that all comes from India.'

A footnote in the English translation says:

Turmeric, the rhizome of Curcuma longa, called in Sanskrit haridra, i.e. " yellow-wood " ; in Hindustani, haldi and haled; in Tamil, manjal; in Malay, kunhei '; in Persian and Hehrew, karkum. The word "Turmeric" is a corruption of the French Terre merite.

For anyone who is interested in pursuing these early mentions, a facsimile of Orta's Portuguese book is available, as well as a 1913 English translation from Sir Clements Markham.

Turmeric's use is known from both written records and archeological data as far back as 10,000BC.

Turmeric was mentioned as a dye plant in the library at Nineveh in the 7th century BC [1]. E.A. Wallis Budge, the British antiquarian, mentions that King Merodach-Baladan II of Babylonia grew turmeric in his gardens at around the same time [2]. The cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum lists thyme, cardamom, turmeric, saffron, poppy, garlic, cumin, coriander and dill, amongst others.

Even farther back, remains of turmeric were found in the ashes of cook fires in Australia dating from 10,000BC.

So while we tend to think of turmeric as a recent fad, it occupies a place of honor as one of the very oldest of the food and medicinal plants known to humankind. It has been mentioned in most comprehensive cookbooks ever since that first recipe in 1831--I first encountered it as a small child in my mother's 1939 edition of Joy of Cooking. And it has been available in the spice aisle of most large grocery stores in the UK and North America for the better part of the 20th century and since. In spite of that fact, most Westerners would have said (until very recently, at least) that they had never heard of turmeric.

Turmeric's active compounds

Turmeric's therapeutic value has been known since the early Ayurveda practitioners, of course. But it took a long time for its active components to be analyzed and described. Many online articles mention 1910 or thereabouts as the earliest mention of curcumin. However, in 1870, the Reports of the German Chemical Society (Volume 3, Issue 1, January-June 1870) included this brief mention:


Translation:

F. W. Daube: About curcumin, the colorant of the curcuma root. (Received on June 13; read out at the meeting by Mr. Wichelhaus.)

The color of the curcuma root has not yet been shown in its pure state; the name curcumin was used to designate a yellow-colored, resin-like body with few characteristic properties *).

It is now possible for me to present pure crystallized curcumin, and I will give below the method of presentation and the properties of the pure body. The coarsely chopped up turmeric root is first freed from the essential oil by a strong stream of steam, washed with hot water while it is still colored, pressed and dried. The root, cleaned in this way, is extracted with boiling benzene; it is best to use it [benzene] for this purpose.

The therapeutic properties of curcumin were clearly not appreciated at this point. However, the method of extracting curcumin (with a solvent such as benzene) remained the same until the last decade of the 20th century, when carbon dioxide supercritical, ultrasonic and other methods of extraction came into use. And even now (2021) the solvent extraction of curcumin (usually with ethanol) remains the primary method.

Until recently, most references to turmeric's active compounds mentioned only the curcuminoids. But turmeric has over 200 active and supporting components. The curcuminoids are indeed the primary ones, but in whole turmeric, they all work together for the most beneficial effects. Amongst others, turmeric contains volatile oils with anti-inflammatory and other benefits of their own. Of the volatile oils, the turmerones have attracted attention recently, with research into ar-turmerone and the others. Turmeric contains a wide range of sesquiterpenes as well, including d-a-phellandrene, d-sabinene, cinol, borneol, zingiberene and others. It contains alklaloids and four polysaccharides that had not been isolated previously from any other source. In other words, turmeric has a lot more going for it than just the curcuminoids.

The most comprehesive exposition we've found of turmeric's constituents is in this 2011 review from the Pharmaceutical Crops journal. The journal has ceased publication, unfortunately, but much of its content is still available online. This review lists 235 constituents of turmeric, along with their chemical formulae, type of chemical compound and links to research and other published information for each one.

Turmeric and Health

Turmeric's health benefits were extensively reported in Ayurvedic and Chinese writings, but until 1949, they were not publicized in the West. Even after curcumin and other active compounds were isolated and described, it took decades for researchers to begin to appreciate turmeric's benefits. In the October 1904 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Albert Leach spoke of turmeric as being of "chief interest to the analyst as an adulterant of other spices." To be fair to Leach, his primary interest was in the adulteration of foodstuffs. He wrote the seminal book on the inspection and analysis of foods offered for sale in the United States, a handbook intended for the use of officials responsible for the purity of foods sold to the public. So it's natural that his interest in turmeric would have been related to any use it had as an adulterant. In regard to that, however, Leach's opinion demonstrates the lack of knowledge of how turmeric was used and valued in much of the rest of the world.

It wasn't until September 1949, that a brief mention of the antibacterial and antifungal effect of curcumin (the primary active compound in whole turmeric) appeared in Nature magazine [3]. The footnotes to this short article include several other papers from 1947 and 1948, but they were not specific to curcumin, only to flavones and ketones in general. So 1949 is the first mention of curcumin's therapeutic value that we've been able to find in an English-language publication. The article included this table showing the inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella paratyphi, Trichophyton gypseum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Research on turmeric and its active compounds continued off and on until the 1970's, when curcumin was proposed to fight cancer. Since then, over 3,000 papers on laboratory research and trials with turmeric and curcumin have been published. This brief introduction does not have space to go into details on turmeric's effects on the body. Those will be covered in subsequent articles (Turmeric and Lyme Disease is already available, and others will be published soon). Briefly, though, turmeric's active compounds have been shown to be antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal; they possess potent anti-inflammatary benefits; they have multiple anticancer effects, and they are able to mitigate (i.e. help, not cure) many of today's common ills (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and others). Turmeric--even in the effective form of golden paste--is not a substitute for definitive medical treatment for any of these conditions. But in combination with such treatment, it can often alleviate symptoms and speed the return of health.

A Brief History of turmeric and curcumin marketing

Until the 'alternate health' community discovered turmeric, it was just…well--turmeric. It was a common spice widely used in the cuisines of Asia and China, and in the food and dye industries in the West. Its therapeutic value was well understood in Asia, but it wasn't seen as a medicine that one took only when ill. It was just a regular part of the diet that was also revered for its health benefits. The divide between food and medicine that is so prevalent in the West simply did not exist. But even after serious research into curcumin began, it still took at least a decade before curcumin supplements were seen on pharmacy and grocery store shelves. At the same time, interest was growing in traditional 'folk medicine' remedies, as overall health declined, obesity increased, and people began to lose confidence in pharmaceutical approaches to medicine.

Still, the emphasis in most Westerners' minds was not on dietary and lifestyle changes. The concept of 'taking a pill' to cure disease was so firmly entrenched that the door was wide open for supplement companies to market turmeric as a dietary supplement rather than a food. Turmeric was still used primarily as a food dye (it provides the intense yellow color of mustard, for example, as well as yellow cake mixes). But supplement companies had woken up to the marketing possibilities, and turmeric began to show up in such previously unlikely places as dog food and commercial poultry supplements.

Fast forward to approximately 2005, when Australian veterinarian Doug English began to experiment with various traditional turmeric preparations. He persuaded his friends, family members and co-workers to try these, and also used them in his veterinary practice. The positive results were so striking that in 2012, he started a Facebook group (the Original Turmeric User Group) hoping to make turmeric better known to the world at large. And he succeeded, to such an extent that variations on his recipe and his recommendations for use are now found on hundreds of websites around the world (his original recipe and current recommendations are included on our site as well).

Supplement companies naturally began to take notice of the increase of interest in turmeric. They had generally not manufactured 'whole turmeric' supplements, though a few brands were available. But turmeric is classed as a food, and the profit margin on food is very small. Foods can't be patented and the claims that can be made for their medical benefits are strongly restricted. But curcumin extracts can be standardized and patented, and the perception of dietary supplements as medically beneficial makes it possible to charge much higher prices for them. In the minds of most lay folk, however, turmeric did not translate to 'curcumin.' Turmeric was still perceived as a spice--for example, as one of the ingredients in curries. Supplement companies needed to change their marketing somehow in order to tempt people looking for turmeric to buy curcumin extracts instead.

Some genius came up with the perfect solution. Just change the labels! Sell the curcumin capsules and tablets as 'turmeric' instead of 'curcumin.' In the US, it is permissible to sell some spice extracts under the name of the spice that the extract comes from, even if it is only a concentrated isolate and not the actual whole spice. Ginger extracts, for example, are often sold as 'ginger' even though they usually contain only gingerol and zingerol. We began to see this change around 2015, as the wording on curcumin labels was changed to 'Turmeric/Curcumin' instead of just 'Curcumin.' Soon, it shifted to just 'Turmeric,' sometimes with 'Extract' or 'Curcumin' in small letters under the larger name. Now it's common to see only 'Turmeric' on most supplement labels. You have to read the small print on the back to determine whether the capsule or tablet in that bottle is actually turmeric or just a high-concentrate curcumin extract. Ironically, that change has come full circle, so that now we sometimes see whole turmeric capsules advertised as 'Turmeric/Curcumin.'

It's essential to shift the emphasis back to 'food' and away from 'supplements' Many supplements are indeed helpful to increase the amount of certain vitamins, minerals, proteins and other food fractions over what is available in typical diets. But they should never be substitutes for the foods they come from. For example, no one would suggest consuming vitamin C tablets as a substitute for the foods that contain vitamin C. Yet curcumin capsules are heavily marketed as a way to include turmeric in one's diet. They are poor substitutes for the real thing, just as an extract from any other food is not an adequate substitute for the food itself. That is not just because most curcumin extracts are isolates (a few products are a combination of whole turmeric and extra curcumin). It is also because in the form of capsules or tablets, curcumin is poorly absorbed to begin with, and what is absorbed is rapidly eliminated. Ironically, almost every vendor of curcumin extracts swears that their product is dozens to hundreds of times better absorbed than all their competitors' products. Yet the real problem is that even if every one of the products was effectively absorbed, they are still isolates of just one or a small number of compounds extracted from the whole food.

So what is the most beneficial way to consume turmeric?

That's a loaded question, because there is no single method. But we can look at how turmeric has been used over its four-thousand year documented history of consumption. To begin with, traditional Indian recipes start out with the dish's whole spices heated in oil, along with finely chopped chili peppers. Warming whole spices stimulates the release of their volatile compounds and triggers a physiological reaction in the humans who smell their attractive scent (digestive compounds in the saliva and other parts of the digestive tract are produced, for example). Finely chopped onion and garlic are usually added next, and heated just until translucent, along with the powdered spices in the recipe. The alliums (which include onions and garlic) are unusual in that their primary active compound (allicin) is present in the form of two precursor compounds separated from each other in diifferent cells. When onion and garlic are chopped, the precursors are able to mix together, and a chemical reaction takes place that creates allicin. Allicin begins to break down when it's heated, but chopping it finely makes as much as possible available, and cooking it until just translucent means that not much is lost. Next, the meat and/or other vegetables are added, along with sufficient water to cook them, and the whole mixture is simmered until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Absorption of the active compounds in the turmeric is made possible by the fat used to heat the whole spices.

Somewhere along the line, it became evident that including hot peppers in a turmeric preparation increased its health benefits. What was not understood until quite recently is that the capsaicin in chili peppers slows the metabolism and clearance of turmeric's active compounds. The first phase of this metabolic sequence takes place in the small intestine, before the curcuminoids and other active constituents ever make it into the bloodstream. So the inclusion of chili pepper makes those compounds available for a longer period of time before they begin to break down into their less effective metabolites. If a fat is present to permit absorption at all, this results in larger amounts of curcumin being available to enter the bloodstream.

So one effective way to consume turmeric is to make Indian dishes that include turmeric (which is a very high percentage of them). But most Westerners aren't crazy about having a regular diet of foods that they didn't grow up with, prepared in ways that taste unfamiliar. Even with the advent of highly seasoned Hispanic dishes, many people don't care for exceptionally spicy foods.

The preparation that Doug English developed has been a welcome substitute for those who don't wish to adopt an Indian diet. Now often referred to as 'golden paste,' it is an easily prepared mixture of turmeric powder cooked in water, plus the addition of a fat and also a small amount of freshly ground black pepper. The piperine in black pepper has the same effect as the capsaicin in chili pepper, but is far more potent. So less black pepper is required than would be needed if one used chili pepper. Golden paste can be added to any savory food, though its distinct flavors blend best with strongly flavored dishes. It's a barely noticeable addition to almost any tomato-based casserole, such as spaghetti, lasagna and chili. It goes well in vegetable and fruit smoothies, and in coffee and other beverages. Masala chai, the traditional Indian spiced tea, is even nicer when enhanced with a portion of golden paste. Turmeric combines very well with chocolate also, and adds a lovely spicy note to good old cocoa.

The recipe section of this website includes some ways to use turmeric and golden paste, and the Original Turmeric User Group has more.

In recent years, Dr. English has also developed shelf-stable turmeric products for both humans and animals. They're available direct from him in Australia, and also on this website.

After all the glowing words about the use of turmeric, there is one caution. Turmeric and golden paste do have some medication interactions, and there are a few medical conditions where turmeric is probably not a good addition to the diet. That kind of specialized advice can't be communicated in a text aimed at a general audience. If you take prescription medications, consult your doctor before adding any turmeric preparation to your diet, especially in regard to curcumin supplements (which have more--and more potent--interactions). The admins of the Original Turmeric User Group may be able to help with interaction advice, and will refer you to your doctor if your question is beyond their ability to answer.

Sources

1-The Cultural History of Plants
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cultural_History_of_Plants/kLSEmAEACAAJ

2-The Divine Origin of the Craft of the Herbalist, E.A. Wallis Budge, 1928
https://ia800704.us.archive.org/5/items/TheDivineOriginOfTheCraftOfTheHerbalist/Budge_DCH.pdf

3-Antibacterial Action of Curcumin and Related Compounds
https://www.nature.com/articles/164456a0

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