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ABSTRACT:
Curcuma longa commonly known as turmeric is a well-known indigenous herbal medicine traditionally used as a spice in Indian food. Turmeric is used in India for thousands of years as a major part of Ayurvedic medicine. It was first used as a dye and then later for its possible medicinal properties. Turmeric is traditionally used as a spice and coloring in foods due to curcuminoids curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bis-demethoxycurcumin as important chemical constituents. Curcuma longa shows wide range of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, antiseptic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective and digestive activities. This Review expresses the development of Curcuma long from a traditional spice to a modern application in the present period.
KEYWORDS: Curcuma longa; Turmeric; Curcumin; Ayurvedic medicine; Anti-inflammatory, Anti-oxidants; Anticancer; Antimicrobial activity.
INTRODUCTION:
Curcuma longa linn. (C. Domestica) (fig.-1) commonly known as Haldi in India or Indian Saffron, belongs to family Zingiberaceae, Curcuma longa is a perennial herb widely cultivated in tropical regions of Asia. Its rhizomes, called turmeric, are extensively used for imparting colour and flavour to food. Turmeric is known as the "golden spice" as well as the "spice of life" because of its numerous diverse clinical uses without any known adverse effects. [1] It has been used in India as a medicinal plant, and held sacred from time immemorial. As early as 3000 B.C., the turmeric plants were cultivated by Harappan civilization. The plant is indigenous to the South and Southeast Asian region. [2]
Curcuma longa is a tropical rhizomatous (fig.-2)crop cultivated most extensively in India, followed by Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In India, the main turmeric growing states are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka and Kerala. India accounts more than 90 % of total output of world. [3,4]
Apart from its daily use in the kitchens as a condiment and spice, turmeric has been widely implicated in a number of ailments by the traditional medicine practitioners of South Asia. The rhizome of turmeric has long been used in the kitchens as a condiment and spice and in traditional household remedy Asian medicine to treat gastrointestinal upset, arthritic pain, and "low energy." [1]
Apart from the traditional medicine practitioners turmeric has been used in fever, jaundice, liver and...