Curry powder, spices turmeric

Turmeric. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a member of the ginger family and has traditionally been used as a spice that adds flavor and color to mustard and curry powder. It comes from India and southern Asia, where the stalk of the plant is scalded, dried, and made into a powder, tablet, capsule, ointment, cream, lotion, or tea. The best-characterized ingredient of turmeric is a substance called curcumin. Curcumin is an antioxidant that also causes certain cells in the body to release steroids such as cortisol, which help fight inflammation... 

International trade in mixed spices (curcuma, turmeric and curry powder, laurel leaves, curry paste, dill and fenugreek seeds) grew by 5% and 11% in volume and value terms, respectively, in 2003/04. The main importing countries were the USA, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. India supplied 14% of the total import value of this spice category to the US and UK markets in 2004. 

As much as your taste allows, use colorful, rich spices as a sprinkling on sauces or meals prepared in a pot, such as pasta and tomato sauce. Curry powder, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne pepper, for example, not only lend terrific flavors and pleasant colors but also... 

Spices have been also considered to be nutraceuticals. Curry powder, a commercial spice blend from India used nowadays worldwide, includes mr-meric, obtained from Curcuma longa. Beneficial effects of turmeric, known in Europe as Indian saffron since medieval times, have been associated to one of its components, curcumin with antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cancer preventive activities [33-35]. 

Turmeric flower, Curcumin, an orange-yellow powder isolated from the spice turmeric and responsible for much of the color of curry, has recently been found to retard tumor growth. See "Chemical Connections Curry and Cancer." Inset a model of curcumin. 

Curcumin is a natural dye from the root of Curcuma longa L. In pure form, it is an orange-yellow crystalline powder that is isolated from the spice turmeric, one of the major ingredients of curry. Its color is a result of the highly conjugated system in curcumin (it is probable that the molecule is actually enolized as shown). It has been known... 

Spices had TPC ranging from 11,319 to 24,390 for cloves, 7,500-11,900 for Ceylon cinnamon, 230-9,000 for cumin, 610-6,750 for caraway, 3,600 for capers, 148-2,420 for cardamom, 1,610-2,200 for nutmeg, 2,117 for dried turmeric, 1,600-2,020 for star anise, 300-1,700 for black pepper spice, 134—1,250 for coriander seed, 830 for fenugreek seed, 780 for white pepper spice, 317-630 for dried ginger, 380 for green pepper spice, 201-221 for fresh ginger, and 90 for dried horseradish. Curry powder had TPC of 1,075 among spice blends. 

Curcumin 6 is the main component of the Indian spice turmeric, and is thus found in large amounts in curry powders and sauces. This is a very interesting compound, as it has been shown to exhibit a wide array of beneficial health effects, including antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties [89]. It is sold in health food stores in pill form as a dietary supplement. It is also a potential photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy for oral lesions and cancers [90]. This fascinating molecule is of particular interest to my work for two reasons it has a very low aqueous solubility, which might be enhanced by CD inclusion, and it exhibits highly polarity-sensitive fluorescence [91], which gives us an excellent way to study its CD inclusion. 

The turmeric plant. Curcuma longa, is cultivated in maty tropical countries, with the primary conunercial production taking place in India. It has been used as a spice for thousands of years and is one of the principal ingredients in curry. The main colouring pigment is curcumin. The turmeric roots are harvested around February, ground to a powder and subsequently extracted with solvent. The resulting turmeric oleoresin has a curcumin content of 37 to 55% and the same relative proportion of flavour compounds and colour as in the spice. 

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