Enter the characters you see below Sorry, we just need to make sure you’re not a robot. This article is about the plant and rhizome used milk dust protein powder a spice. For the river in India, see Haridra River.
Curcuma longa of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. Although long used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is also known as haridra, there is no high-quality clinical evidence that consuming turmeric or curcumin is effective for treating any disease. The greatest diversity of Curcuma species by number alone is in India, at around 40 to 45 species. Thailand has a comparable 30 to 40 species. Other countries in tropical Asia also have numerous wild species of Curcuma.
From India, it spread to Southeast Asia along with Hinduism and Buddhism, as the yellow dye is used to color the robes of monks and priests. Turmeric has also been found in Tahiti, Hawaii and Easter Island before European contact. Turmeric was found in Farmana, dating to between 2600 and 2200 BCE, and in a merchant’s tomb in Megiddo, Israel dating from the second millennium BCE. The name possibly derives from Middle English or Early Modern English as turmeryte or tarmaret.