Turmeric
Common name
turmeric, turmeric root, Indian saffron
ID
HD0272
Scientific name of the plant
Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma domestica, Curcuma longa
Anatomical part for use
rhizome
Human use
Gastrointestinal disorders
Summary
Turmeric (pronounced , also or ) is a flowering plant, Curcuma longa of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the roots of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, that requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F) and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption.
The rhizomes are used fresh or boiled in water and dried, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a coloring and flavoring agent in many Asian cuisines, especially for curries, as well as for dyeing, characteristics imparted by the principal turmeric constituent, curcumin.Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper–like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma.Curcumin, a bright yellow chemical produced by the turmeric plant, is approved as a food additive by the World Health Organization, European Parliament, and United States Food and Drug Administration.Although long used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is also known as haridra, there is no high-quality clinical evidence for using turmeric or curcumin to treat any disease. (Source: Wiki)
Evidence Level
Level 2 (Independent reports from multiple medical centers)
Hepatotoxicity reports in literature
- Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis associated with turmeric dietary supplement use : (Source)
Hepatotoxicity Description
Both turmeric and curcumin were considered to be generally safe and for many years had not been linked to instances of liver injury in any consistent way. Studies of its use in various diseases showed low rates of transient and asymptomatic serum enzyme elevations during therapy, but without instances of clinically apparent acute liver injury. Indeed, turmeric was evaluated as a potential therapy of acute and chronic liver injury and although its efficacy and safety were not clearly shown, therapy with turmeric and curcumin did not seem to worsen the preexisting liver conditions. Recently, isolated case reports of liver injury arising during use of turmeric dietary supplements have been published. Initially, these episodes were attributed to other exposures that might have accounted for the injury or possible contaminants in the commercial turmeric products. One reason given for the safety and lack of hepatotoxicity of curcumin was that it is poorly absorbed by the oral route, and it was unclear whether there was adequate systemic exposure to achieve any of the purported beneficial or adverse effects of turmeric or curcumin.
Importantly, means of increasing the bioavailability of curcumin were developed using piperine (black pepper) or nanoparticle delivery methods to increase absorption. These high bioavailability forms of turmeric were subsequently linked to several cases of liver injury and mentioned as a possible cause of outbreaks of acute hepatitis with jaundice in Italy. The clinical features of the liver injury attributed to high bioavailable forms of turmeric have recently become better defined. The latency to onset of liver injury has varied from a few weeks to as long as eight months but is typically 1 to 3 months. The onset is insidious with fatigue, nausea and poor appetite followed by dark urine and jaundice. Rash and fever are absent or mild. Laboratory tests at onset typically show marked elevations in serum aminotransferase levels (often above 1000 U/L) with only mild increases in alkaline phosphatase.
Jaundice
occurs if the agent is continued. While signs of hypersensitivity are not prominent, many patients develop autoantibodies and the clinical syndrome and histological features can resemble autoimmune hepatitis. Prednisone has been used to treat severe cases of turmeric hepatotoxicity, but is probably not needed as recovery is rapid once the herbal product is discontinued. Neither acute liver failure nor chronic hepatitis or vanishing bile duct syndrome have been described in cases of turmeric associated liver injury, but the hepatocellular pattern of injury and frequency of jaundice suggest that fatal instances might occur, particularly if the product is not discontinued promptly. (Source: LiverTox)
Traditional uses
In 2019, the European Medicines Agency concluded that turmeric herbal teas, or other forms taken by mouth, on the basis of their long-standing traditional use, could be used to relieve mild digestive problems, such as feelings of fullness and flatulence.Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia, where it is collected for use in classical Indian medicine (Siddha or Ayurveda). In Eastern India, the plant is used as one of the nine components of nabapatrika along with young plantain or banana plant, taro leaves, barley (jayanti), wood apple (bilva), pomegranate (darimba), Saraca indica, manaka (Arum), or manakochu, and rice paddy. The Haldi ceremony called gaye holud in Bengal (literally "yellow on the body") is a ceremony observed during wedding celebrations of people of Indian culture all throughout the Indian subcontinent.In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as a part of the Tamil–Telugu marriage ritual, dried turmeric tuber tied with string is used to create a Thali necklace. In western and coastal India, during weddings of the Marathi and Konkani people, Kannada Brahmins, turmeric tubers are tied with strings by the couple to their wrists during a ceremony, Kankana Bandhana.Friedrich Ratzel reported in The History of Mankind during 1896, that in Micronesia, turmeric powder was applied for embellishment of body, clothing, utensils, and ceremonial uses. (Source: Wiki)
Common name
turmeric, turmeric root, Indian saffron
ID
HD0272
Scientific name of the plant
Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma domestica, Curcuma longa
Anatomical part for use
rhizome
Human use
Gastrointestinal disorders
Summary
Turmeric (pronounced , also or ) is a flowering plant, Curcuma longa of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the roots of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, that requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F) and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption. The rhizomes are used fresh or boiled in water and dried, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a coloring and flavoring agent in many Asian cuisines, especially for curries, as well as for dyeing, characteristics imparted by the principal turmeric constituent, curcumin.Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper–like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma.Curcumin, a bright yellow chemical produced by the turmeric plant, is approved as a food additive by the World Health Organization, European Parliament, and United States Food and Drug Administration.Although long used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is also known as haridra, there is no high-quality clinical evidence for using turmeric or curcumin to treat any disease. (Source: Wiki)
Evidence Level
Level 2 (Independent reports from multiple medical centers)
Hepatotoxicity reports in literature
- Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis associated with turmeric dietary supplement use : (Source)
Hepatotoxicity Description
Both turmeric and curcumin were considered to be generally safe and for many years had not been linked to instances of liver injury in any consistent way. Studies of its use in various diseases showed low rates of transient and asymptomatic serum enzyme elevations during therapy, but without instances of clinically apparent acute liver injury. Indeed, turmeric was evaluated as a potential therapy of acute and chronic liver injury and although its efficacy and safety were not clearly shown, therapy with turmeric and curcumin did not seem to worsen the preexisting liver conditions. Recently, isolated case reports of liver injury arising during use of turmeric dietary supplements have been published. Initially, these episodes were attributed to other exposures that might have accounted for the injury or possible contaminants in the commercial turmeric products. One reason given for the safety and lack of hepatotoxicity of curcumin was that it is poorly absorbed by the oral route, and it was unclear whether there was adequate systemic exposure to achieve any of the purported beneficial or adverse effects of turmeric or curcumin. Importantly, means of increasing the bioavailability of curcumin were developed using piperine (black pepper) or nanoparticle delivery methods to increase absorption. These high bioavailability forms of turmeric were subsequently linked to several cases of liver injury and mentioned as a possible cause of outbreaks of acute hepatitis with jaundice in Italy. The clinical features of the liver injury attributed to high bioavailable forms of turmeric have recently become better defined. The latency to onset of liver injury has varied from a few weeks to as long as eight months but is typically 1 to 3 months. The onset is insidious with fatigue, nausea and poor appetite followed by dark urine and jaundice. Rash and fever are absent or mild. Laboratory tests at onset typically show marked elevations in serum aminotransferase levels (often above 1000 U/L) with only mild increases in alkaline phosphatase. Jaundice occurs if the agent is continued. While signs of hypersensitivity are not prominent, many patients develop autoantibodies and the clinical syndrome and histological features can resemble autoimmune hepatitis. Prednisone has been used to treat severe cases of turmeric hepatotoxicity, but is probably not needed as recovery is rapid once the herbal product is discontinued. Neither acute liver failure nor chronic hepatitis or vanishing bile duct syndrome have been described in cases of turmeric associated liver injury, but the hepatocellular pattern of injury and frequency of jaundice suggest that fatal instances might occur, particularly if the product is not discontinued promptly. (Source: LiverTox)
Traditional uses
In 2019, the European Medicines Agency concluded that turmeric herbal teas, or other forms taken by mouth, on the basis of their long-standing traditional use, could be used to relieve mild digestive problems, such as feelings of fullness and flatulence.Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia, where it is collected for use in classical Indian medicine (Siddha or Ayurveda). In Eastern India, the plant is used as one of the nine components of nabapatrika along with young plantain or banana plant, taro leaves, barley (jayanti), wood apple (bilva), pomegranate (darimba), Saraca indica, manaka (Arum), or manakochu, and rice paddy. The Haldi ceremony called gaye holud in Bengal (literally "yellow on the body") is a ceremony observed during wedding celebrations of people of Indian culture all throughout the Indian subcontinent.In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as a part of the Tamil–Telugu marriage ritual, dried turmeric tuber tied with string is used to create a Thali necklace. In western and coastal India, during weddings of the Marathi and Konkani people, Kannada Brahmins, turmeric tubers are tied with strings by the couple to their wrists during a ceremony, Kankana Bandhana.Friedrich Ratzel reported in The History of Mankind during 1896, that in Micronesia, turmeric powder was applied for embellishment of body, clothing, utensils, and ceremonial uses. (Source: Wiki)