Curcuma longa

Also known as Indian saffron, turmeric, turmeric plant, medicinal plant

Turmeric (), or Curcuma longa (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption or dyeing.

OverviewAI-generated

Curcuma longa, commonly known as turmeric, is a species of plant in the family Zingiberaceae. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae and the genus Curcuma. The scientific name is attributed to L. The organism is classified as a useful plant and has been described in sources such as the Gujin Tushu Jicheng and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. It is distinct from safran.

The species is native to India and has a taxon range that includes China, specifically the Fujian, Tibet Autonomous Region, and Guangdong areas. It is used as a dye, a medicinal plant, and a vegetable. Nutritional data indicates it contains 263 kcal of energy, 3.6 g of fat, and 47.3 g of carbohydrates per serving. The IUCN conservation status is Data Deficient, as recorded in 2019.

Synthesized by Vinony from 58 facts across 9 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, IUCN Red List, Plants of the World, Openfoodfacts, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Data Deficient

Turmeric

Curcuma longa

SPECIES

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassLiliopsida
OrderZingiberales
FamilyZingiberaceae

Native toIndia

Observations3,522

Observations recorded2,671

Curcuma longa is close relative of Curcuma viridiflora, but differs from the latter in its rhizomes orange and bright yellow (vs. pale yellow), coma bracts white and green, sometimes tinged reddish purple (vs. white, partly with green stripe), labellum yellowish with central, yellow band (vs. with small, brown stripe on central band).

via GBIF · IUCN · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 650
With media: 538
Family: Zingiberaceae
Collections: UNICACH, IBUNAM, NY, US, DBG, BRIT
Recorded in: Mexico, Brazil, Federated States Of Micronesia, United States, Indonesia, Myanmar, Peru, China

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Nutrition · Open Food Facts

Typical values per 100 g · averaged across 22 products

1NOVA · Unprocessed / minimally processed

Energy: 263 kcal
Fat: 3.6 g
— of which saturates: 0.4 g
Carbohydrates: 47.3 g
— of which sugars: 1.5 g
Fibre: 21 g
Protein: 5.4 g
Salt: 0.09 g

Browse on Open Food Facts →

via Open Food Facts · ODbL

~15 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections

Contents

Origin and distribution
History
Etymology
Description
Inflorescence, flower, and fruit
Phytochemistry
Uses
Culinary
Traditional uses
Indicator
Adulteration
Medical research
See also
References
External links

The rhizomes can be used fresh, but they are often boiled in water and dried, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow shelf-stable spice powder commonly used as a coloring and flavoring agent in many Asian cuisines, especially for curries (curry powder). Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper-like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Curcuma longa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.