Turmeric

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae.

Turmeric is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68–86 °F) and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive.

Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes and propagated from some of those rhizomes in the following season. It was first isolated in 1815 when Vogel and Pierre Joseph Pelletier reported the isolation of a "yellow colouring-matter" from the rhizomes of turmeric and named it curcumin (curcuma)

In Ayurvedic and Siddha practices, turmeric has been used as an attempted treatment for a variety of internal disorders.

Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, pepper-like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma. When not used fresh, the rhizomes are boiled in water for about 30–45 minutes and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep-orange-yellow powder commonly used as a colouring and flavouring agent in many Asian cuisines, especially for curries, as well as for dyeing.