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Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Dlium Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a species of plant in the Zingiberaceae, herbaceous perennial, up to 1 meter tall, aromatic rhizome, branched, cylindrical, yellow and thin skin, yellow to orange inside.

C. longa has leaves sitting alternately and arranged in two rows, divided into leaf midrib, petiole and blade. The leaf midrib forms a false stem. The petiole is 50-115 cm long. The leaf blade is simple, usually 76-115 cm long and rarely up to 230 cm. 38-45 cm wide, extending to an ellipse and narrowing at the tip.



At the top of the inflorescence, there are stem bracts where there are no flowers, white to green and sometimes reddish purple in color and the upper tip is tapered.

Hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and triple. Three sepals, 0.8-1.2 cm long, fused, white in color, have fine hairs and three unequal calyx teeth. The three petals are bright yellow, fused into a crown tube and up to 3 cm long.

The three crown lobes are 1.0–1.5 cm (3⁄8–5⁄8 in) long and triangular in shape with soft spiked upper ends. The outer staminode is shorter than the labellum. The labellum is yellowish in color with a yellow band in the middle, ovoid in shape and 1.2-2.0 cm long. Three carpels under constant trilobed ovary. The fruit capsule opens with three compartments.

The tip on the false stem is an inflorescence stem, 12-20 cm long and bearing many flowers. Bracts are light green, ovate to oblong, obtuse upper end and 3-5 cm long.

Turmeric powder contains about 60-70% carbohydrates, 6-13% water, 6-8% protein, 5-10% fat, 3-7% dietary minerals, 3-7% essential oils, 2-7% dietary fiber and 1 -6% curcuminoids.

Turmeric is often used as a spice, giving a yellow color to dishes and as a preservative. The rhizome is used to cool the body, release gas from the intestines and stomach, stop bleeding and prevent blood clots.

Turmeric is also used as an anti-itch, anti-septic, anti-spasmodic, reducing swelling of the mucous membranes of the mouth and nasal congestion. The extract is used as an ointment to treat swelling and sprains. Turmeric is used to treat irregularities in the work of the kidneys, body odor and eyes that are not resistant to sunlight.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Subfamily: Zingiberoideae
Tribe: Zingibereae
Genus: Curcuma
Subgenus: Curcuma L. in Sp. Pl.: 2 (1753)
Species: Curcuma longa L. in Sp. Pl.: 2 (1753)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Kua domestica Medik. in Hist. & Commentat. Acad. Elect. Sci. Theod.-Palat. 6: 396 (1790)
Stissera curcuma Giseke in Prael. Ord. Nat. Pl.: 249 (1792)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Amomum curcuma Jacq. in Hort. Bot. Vindob. 3: 5 (1776)
Amomum latifolium Lam. in Encycl. 1: 134 (1783)
Curcuma brog Valeton in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 27: 48 (1918)
Curcuma domestica Valeton in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 27: 31 (1918)
Curcuma longa var. vanaharidra Velay., Pandrav., J.K.George & Varapr. in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 33: 173 (2009)
Curcuma ochrorhiza Valeton in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 27: 45 (1918)
Curcuma soloensis Valeton in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 27: 46 (1918)
Curcuma tinctoria Guibourt in Hist. Nat. Drogues Simples 2: 208 (1876)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

Albano, P.-O. (2003). La Conaissance des Plantes Exotiques: 1-324. Édisud, Aix-en-Provence.

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Catarino, L., Sampaio Martins, E., Pinto-Basto, M.F. & Diniz, M.A. (2006). Plantas Vasculares e Briófitos da Guiné-Bissau: 1-298. Instituto de investigação científica tropical, Instituto Português de apoio ao desenvolvimento.

Evenhuis, N.L. & Eldredge, L.G. (eds.) (2012). Records of the Hawaii biological survey for 2011. Part II: plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 113: 1-102.

Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia 41: 41-82.

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.

Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.

Larsen, K. (1996). A prelimanary checklist of the Zingiberaceae of Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 24: 35-49.

Leong-Skornicková, J., Sída, O., Wijesundara, S. & Marhold, K. (2008). On the identity of tumeric: the typification of Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 157: 37-46.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Newman, M. & Sangvirotjanapat, S. (2023). Flora of Thailand 16(2): 333-747. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.

Nguyen, Q.B. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 21: 1-489. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Raju, V.S., Reddy, C.S. & Ragan, A. (2006). Curcuma L. (Zingiberaceae) in Andhra Pradesh: a preliminary study. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 30: 773-775.

Sirirugsa, P., Larsen, K. & Maknoi, C. (2007). The genus Curcuma L. (Zingiberaceae): distribution and classification with reference to species diversity in Thailand. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 59: 203-220.

Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.

Smith, A.C. (1979). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 1: 1-495. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.

Tanaka, N., Koyama, T. & Murata, J. (2005). The flowering plants of Mt. Popa, central Myanmar - Results of Myanmar-Japanese joint expeditions, 2000-2004. Makinoa 5: 1-102.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Yuncker, T.G. (1959). Plants of Tonga. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 220: 1-283.

Zizka, G. (1991). Flowering plants of Easter island. Palmarum Hortus Francofurtensis 3: 1-108.

Škornicková, J.L., Sída, O. & Marhold, K. (2010). Back to types! Towards stability of names in Indian Curcuma L. (Zingiberaceae). Taxon 59: 269-282.

VERNACULAR NAME

Ambon: Unin
Assamese: Halodhi
Banjar: Janar
Bengali: হলুদ Halud
Bima: Huni
Burmese: နန်းဝင်း Nanwin
Chinese (simplified): 姜黄 - 鬯草
Chinese (traditional): 薑黃
Dayak: Cahang
Dutch Kurkuma
English: Turmeric, Curcuma, Yellow ginger
Estonian: Harilik kollajuur, Harilik kurkum, Harilik kurkuma
Filipino: Dilaw, Duwaw, Kalawag
Finnish: Maustekurkuma
French: Curcuma, Safran des Indes
German: Kurkuma
Gorontalo: Alawaha
Gujarati: Haldar
Hawaiian: ʻŌlena
Hindi: हल्दी Haldi
Hong Kong: 薑黃
Indonesian: Kunyit, Kunir
Italian: Turmerico, Curcuma, Zafferano delle indie
Japanese: ウコン - 秋ウコン - 赤ウコン - 鬱金
Kannada: Arishina, Haladi, Arishina, Arisina, Haladi Haldi, Manjal, Manjala, Haridra
Khmer: រ៉ូមីត - ឡូមីត Rômiêt, Lômiêt
Komerian: Kunyir
Lao: ຄິນຊ໌ ຄິນຊ໌ Khminz khünz
Macao: 薑黃
Madura: Konyè'
Malayalam: Manjal
Malaysia: Kunyit, Temu kunyit, Tius
Manipuri: Yaingang
Marathi: Halad, Haldi
Mizo: Ai-eng
Nepali: बेसार - हल्दी Besaar, Haldee
Oria: Holdi, Haldi
Oriya: Haladi
Palauan: Kesol
Panihing: Dio
PNG: Kawawara
Polish: Pstryż długi
Portuguese: Cúrcuma, Açafrão-da-terra
Russian: Куркума длинная
Sangir: Kuni
Sanskrit: Haridra, Marmarii
Santali: Shasang
Slovak: Kurkuma pravá
Spanish: Cúrcuma
Sunda: Konéng
Swedish: Gurkmeja
Taiwan: 薑黃
Talaud: Uinida
Tamil: மஞ்சள் Manjal
Tangkhul: Yaingang
Telugu: Pasupu, Haridra
Ternate: Gorachi
Thai: ขมิ้นชัน
Tharu: हर्दि
Turkish: Zerdeçal
Urdu: ہلدی Haldi

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
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