Medicinal uses

Turmeric plant
In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is thought to have many medicinal properties and many in India use it as a readily available antiseptic for cuts, burns and bruises. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine say it has fluoride which is thought to be essential for teeth. It is also used as an antibacterial agent.
It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which allegedly helps with stomach problems and other ailments. It is popular as a tea in Okinawa, Japan. It is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer's disease, cancer and liver disorders.

Turmeric rhizome
It is only in recent years that Western scientists have increasingly recognised the medicinal properties of turmeric. According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope," research activity into curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is exploding. Two hundred and fifty-six curcumin papers were published in the past year according to a search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Supplement sales have increased 35% from 2004, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health has four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's, and colorectal cancer.

Turmeric rhizome
A 2004 UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered mice suggests that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, might inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and also break up existing plaques. "Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in a variety of ailments as part of Indian traditional medicine," Gregory Cole, Professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said.
Another 2004 study conducted at Yale University involved oral administration of curcumin to mice homozygous for the most common allele implicated in cystic fibrosis. Treatment with curcumin restored physiologically-relevant levels of protein function.[3]
Anti-tumoral effects against melanoma cells have been demonstrated.[4]
A recent study involving mice has shown that turmeric slows the spread of breast cancer into lungs and other body parts. Turmeric also enhances the effect of taxol in reducing metastasis of breast cancer.[5]
Curcumin is thought to be a powerful antinociceptive (pain-relieving) agent. In the November 2006 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a study was published that showed the effectiveness of turmeric in the reduction of joint inflammation, and recommended clinical trials as a possible treatment for the alleviation of arthritis symptoms.[6] It is thought to work as a natural inhibitor of the cox-2 enzyme, and has been shown effective in animal models for neuropathic pain secondary to diabetes, among others.[7]
Presenting their findings at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco in June 2008, researchers discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing Type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls. They speculate that curcumin in the turmeric lessens insulin resistance and prevents Type 2 diabetes in these mouse models by dampening the inflammatory response provoked by obesity.[8]

Cosmetics

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (August 2008)
Turmeric is currently used in the formulation of some sunscreens. Turmeric paste is used by some Indian women to keep them free of superfluous hair. Turmeric paste is applied to bride and groom before marriage in some places of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, where it is believed turmeric gives glow to skin and keeps some harmful bacteria away from the body.
The Government of Thailand is funding a project to extract and isolate tetrahydrocurcuminoids (THC) from turmeric. THCs (not to be confused with tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC) are colorless compounds that might have antioxidant and skin-lightening properties and might be used to treat skin inflammations, making these compounds useful in cosmetics formulations.

[edit] Dye
Turmeric makes a poor fabric dye as it is not very lightfast (the degree to which a dye resists fading due to light exposure). However, turmeric is commonly used in Indian clothing, such as a sari.

[edit] Gardening
Turmeric can also be used to deter ants. The exact reasons why turmeric repels ants is unknown, but anecdotal evidence suggests it works.[9]

[edit] International naming
ಅರಿಶಿಣ in Kannada
हळद (Halad) in Marathi
Haldi in Hindi and Urdu.
Haldar in Gujarati
ਹਲਦੀ (Haldi) in Punjabi.
Haruut in Somali
Holdi or Holood in Bengali.
আন্দি (Andi) in Bishnupriya Manipuri
மஞ்சள் (manchal, literal: "Yellow") in Tamil.
పసుపు (pasupu) in Telugu.
姜黄 (jiang huang, literal: "Ginger Yellow") in Chinese.
Nghệ in Vietnamese.
Lmeat in Khmer.
زردچوبه (Zardchubeh) in Persian.
‘Ōlena in Hawaiian
Gelbwurz (literal: Yellow Root) or Kurkuma in German.
Gurkemeje in Danish.
Kurkuma or Japonský šafrán (literal: Japanese Safron) in Czech.
Kunyit in Malay and Indonesian.
كركم (Kurkum) in Arabic
כורכום (Kurkum) in Hebrew
Palillo in Spanish (South America)
മഞ്ഞള്‍ (manjal) in Malayalam
Куркума (Kurkuma) in Russian
Kurkuma in Polish
زه‌رده‌چه‌وه (Zardachawa) in Kurdish
(Kaha) in Sinhala
Curcuma in Portuguese

Chemistry

Curcumin Enol form
Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 3% curcumin, a polyphenol. It is the active substance of turmeric and it is also known as C.I. 75300, or Natural Yellow 3. The systematic chemical name is (1E,6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione.
It can exist at least in two tautomeric forms, keto and enol. The keto form is preferred in solid phase and the enol form in solution.