Materials and Methods

Geography and Distribution

Curcuma longa originated and spread throughout tropical and subtropical regions and is cultivated widely in Asia - India and China.

History

The use of turmeric dates back to nearly 4000 years to the Vedic times in India, where it was used as a culinary spice and also had some religious significance. It probably reached China by 700 AD, East Africa by 800 AD, West Africa by 1200 AD, and Jamaica in the eighteenth century. According to Sanskrit medical treatises and Ayurvedic and Unani systems, turmeric has a long history of medicinal use in South

Asia. Susruta’s Ayurvedic Compendium, dating back to 250 BC, prescribes an ointment of turmeric to relieve the effects of food poisoning (Prasad and Aggarwal, 2011).

Table 1. Common Names of Curcuma longa

Taxonomical Classification

Figure 1(b) shows the taxonomical classification of Curcuma longa in a Venn diagram.

Figure 1(b). Taxonomical classification of Curcuma longa

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