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Home » Raw Herbs » Tubers |
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Botanical Name |
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Curcuma longa L. |
English
Name |
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Turmeric, Indian saffron, Long rooted curcuma, Yellow ginger. |
Synonym(s) |
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Amomum curcuma.Jacq., Curcuma domestica Valet., Curcuma rotunda. L. |
Family |
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Zingiberaceae |
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General Info
| Description |
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Tall herb; root stock large, ovoid, with cylindrical tubers that are bright yellow or orange inside. Leaves very large, in tufts up to 1.2 m long including petioles, blade up to 50 cm long and 8 cm wide, oblong lanceolate, tapering to the base; petiole about as long as leaf blade. Flowers pale yellow, borne in spikes 10 to 15 cm long, appearing with the leaves in the middle of the leaf tufts; peduncel 15 cm long, hidden in sheathing petiole; flowering bracts pale green; bracts of coma white and green tinged with pink. |
| Herb Effects |
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Weakly antiseptic, stimulant, carminative, antiinflammatory, balsamic, diuretic, stimulates the secretion and/or flow of milk, stimulates the secretion of gastric juices, neutralizes acid accumulation in the gastrointestinal tract and reduces fever. |
Chemistry
| Active Ingredients |
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Curcumin (a diferuloyl methane) and an essential rhizome oil. |
| Chemistry
of Active Ingredients |
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Name |
CAS# |
IUPAC Name |
Formula |
Structure |
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| Curcumin |
8024-37-1 |
Not Available |
Not Available |
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Pharmacology
| Medicinal Use |
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Relieving pain associated with purulent ophthalmia (rhizome decoction), for abscesses, amenorrhea, anemia, asthma, colds, jaundice, conjunctivitis, purifying blood, as a tonic to the stomach, diarrhea, dysentery, gonorrhea, kidney stones and reducing fever. |
| Contraindication |
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Do not take turmeric if you are pregnant, or if you are suffering from acute jaundice or hepatitis. |
| Reference |
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 Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.
Bentley and Trimen, Medicinal Plants.
Grieve M. A Modern Herbal 1931 (www.botanical.com).
Johnson T. CRC Ethnobotany Desk Reference (www.herbweb.com/herbage). |
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