The History of Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa), a staple of the supermarket spice aisle, has been in use for millennia. Since ancient times, this rhizome has served as a seasoning, food colorant, medicine and textile dye. Does this Spark an idea?
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Mesopotamia
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Clay tablets inscribed around 650 B.C. during the rule of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal describe turmeric as a brewing spice, stomach tonic and dye plant.
Ancient India
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The Sushruta Samhita, a collection of Sanskrit medical texts forming the basis of India's Ayurvedic medical tradition, lists turmeric as an ingredient in external preparations for wounds and hemorrhoids and in internal medicines for treating jaundice and improving memory. According to Poth and Sauer, the Sushruta Samhita was written around the second century A.D., although its original sources date from the seventh century B.C.
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Tang-era China
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Laufer notes that Chinese writings from the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. mention turmeric, and that the plant was probably not native, although there were similar, related species that might have been indigenous. The Chinese used these plants to make yellow dye.
Medieval Europe
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During his travels in China in 1280, Marco Polo encountered a widely used, saffron-colored food seasoning that was most likely turmeric or a closely related species. In Europe, turmeric did not prove as popular a spice as ginger and other Eastern imports but was valued more as a food colorant and textile dye.
Ancient Medicine Meets Modern Science
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In 1815 chemists Vogel and Pelletier isolated and gave a name to curcumin, an orange-yellow extract of turmeric. Today, researchers are investigating the effectiveness of curcumin--turmeric's most biologically active component--in treating Alzheimer's disease, cancer, inflammatory diseases and many other conditions.
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