Kunyit

Kunyit
Scientific Name	Curcuma domestica Loir
Order	Zingiberales
Family	Zingiberaceae

{slider=Common Name}

Tumeric (English), Kunyit (Malay), Indian saffron, Jiang huang

{/slider}
{slider=Description}

Turmeric is the rhizome or underground stem in the ginger family. The whole turmeric is a tuberous rhizome, with a rough, segmented skin, orange-brownincolorontheandbrightorangeintheinside that looks bright yellow when powdered. Turmeric is mildly aromatic and has scents of orange or ginger. It has a pungent, bitter flavor. The leavesareglabrous,alternatelyarrange,lightgreenincolor. Thepetiolesarelong,endingintoabroadleafsheath,whichactasapseudostem. The rhizomes are robust, fleshy and branch at right angles forming a dense clump. The main rhizome measures 2.5 – 7 cm in length with a diameter of 2.5 cm with smaller tubers branching off. Tumericwillgrow well in mildshade where it requires a hot, moist climate and a fairly light soil butproduceslargerandbetter rhizomeswhengrowninopenandexposedtofullsunlight. It is propagated asexually throughrhizomeseparation.

{/slider}
{slider=Plant Material of Interest}

Turmeric is an ancient spice and appear in Asian and Middle Eastern cooking.Turmeric is a necessary ingredient of curry powder and abundant in the traditional Indian diet and had some religious significance. The dried tumeric rhizome It has been used as dye, a condiment and is used in place of saffron to provide color and flavor. InMalaysia,tumericisnormally cultivatedinhomegardens. 

{/slider}
{slider=Genaral Appearance}

Turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant. It grows to 60 – 100 cm.

{/slider}
{slider=Geographical Distribution}

A native of South East Asia and tropical Tamilnadu

{/slider}
{slider=Traditional Uses}

The plant is considered as one of the most valuable herbs to mankind. Turmeric has been used medicinally throughout Asia to treat stomach and liver ailments. It also was used externally, to heal sores, and as a cosmetic.Theplantisusedasananti-inflammatory, antimalarial,antihelmintic,bactericide,fungicide, stimulantandfortreatingsprains, ringworms,neuralgiaandrheumatism osteoarthritis, cancer and liver problems and wound healing . In Malaysia, an ointment base on the spice is used as an antiseptic in open wound. To the traditional folk medicine of India, turmeric is considered as an excellent natural antibiotics. The rhizome (root) used to treat digestive disorder and help improve gastrointestinal upset.It is also used in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine to treat inflammation, burns, and disorders of the digestive system. Thedriedtumericrhizomeiscommonlyusedasacondimentandto preparea yellowcolor dye. A poulticeoftherhizomesisappliedtothebreastforstimulatingmilkflow.Tumericboiledwithmilkandsugar isapopularremedy forcolds.A fresh juice is commonly used for the treatment of skin diseases, including eczema, chicken pox, shingles, allergy, and scabies. In Tamilnadu, turmeric has been used traditionally as a remedy for stomach and liver ailments, as well as topically to heal sores, basically for its supposed antimicrobial property.

{/slider}
{slider=Chemical Constituents}

Curcumin is a major biologically active component of turmeric. The most important chemical components of turmeric are a group of compounds called curcuminoids, which include curcumin (diferuloylmethane), demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. The best studied compound is curcumin a hydrophilic polyphenol, which constitutes 3.14% (on average) of powdered turmeric(Tayyem R.F., et al 2009). In addition there are other important volatile oils such as turmerone, atlantone, and zingiberene. Some general constituents are sugars, proteins, and resins^. Its phytoconstituents contain iridoidal glycosides, linalyl 6-O-malonyl-β-D-glucopyranoside, benzyl 6-O-β-Dxylopyranosyl- β-D-glucopyranoside (β-primeveroside), 2- phenylethyl β-primeveroside, 2-phenylethyl 6-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl- β-D-glucopyranoside (β-rutinoside), dotriacontanoic acid, dotriacontanol, oleanolic acid, daucosterol, and hesperidin (Zhang, Z.F. et al., 2004). The volatile constituents consist of benzyl acetate, indole, E-E-α-farnesene, Z-3-hexenyl benzoate, benzyl alcohol, linalool, and methyl anthranilate (Edris, 2008).

{/slider}
{slider=Research Findings}

Data from epidemiologic studies suggest that turmeric may improve cognitive performance (Ng TP, et al., 2006) but a randomized trial of patients with Alzheimer’s disease found no such benefits (Baum L, et al., 2008) Extensive research over the last two decades suggests that it helps to alleviate symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (Bundy R, et al., 2004) ulcerative colitis (Hanai H, et al.,2004) and osteoarthritis (Kuptniratsaikul V, et al., 2009).

ANTICANCER

A number of studies reveal that curcumin inhibits tumor initiation by suppressing proinflammatory pathways and inducing phase II conjugating enzymes, such as sulfotransferase and glutathione-S-transferase, that facilitate the excretion of carcinogens (Thangapazham et al., 2006). Curcumin also potentiated the antitumor effects of gemcitabine (Gemzar) in pancreatic cancer (Kunnynajjara AB, et al., 2007) CM exhibits particular promise as a therapeutic and preventative agent for gastrointestinal cancer, where it displays a modest bioavailability in the colon following oral administration (Sharma et al., 2005). CM has also been shown to activate p21 in a p53-independent fashion in breast (MCF-7), prostate (PC-3) and colon (Colo-205) cancer cells (Aggarwal et al., 2007, & Hour et al., 2002 & Su CC et al., 2006)

HERB-DRUG INTERACTIONS: Anticoagulants/antiplatelets:

Turmeric may increase risk of bleeding. (Brinker F, 1998) Camptothecin: Turmeric inhibits campto-thecin-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Mechlorethamine: Turmeric inhibits me-chlorethamine-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Doxorubicin: Turmeric inhibits doxorubicin-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Cyclophosphamide: Dietary turmeric inhibits cyclophosphamide-induced tumor regression in animal studies. (Somasundaram S, et al 2002) Norfloxacin: Pretreatment with curcumin increased plasma elimination half-life, reducing the dosage of norfloxacin. (Pavithra BH, et al, 2009) Drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 enzyme: Curcumin inhibits cytochrome 3A4 enzyme, altering the metabolism of certain prescription drugs (Zhang W, et al., 2009). Celiprolol and midazolam: Curcumin was shown to downregulate intestinal P-glycoprotein levels, thereby increasing the concentrations of celiprolol and midazolam.

POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANT:

The University of Maryland’s Medical Center also states that turmeric’s powerful antioxidant properties fight cancer-causing free radicals, reducing or preventing some of the damage they can cause according to various basic research studies, administration of curcumin or turmeric can suppress several stages of cancer development in multiple tumor models. One study of curcumin on human cancer cells in vitro used hybrid molecules with the anti-nausea drug thalidomide to induce apoptosis in myeloma cancer cells (Ravindran J, et al., 2009)

{/slider}
{slider=Toxicity Studies} 

In clinical studies, curcumin was well tolerated by cancer patients While it was shown to significantly inhibit cyclophosphamide-induced tumor regression in a human breast cancer model (Dhillon N, et al., 2008) results from a phase I trial found a combination of curcumin and docetaxel (Taxotere) to be safe (Bayet-Robert M, et al., 2010)

{/slider}
{slider=Reference}

Bundy R, et al: Turmeric extract may improve irritable bowel syndrome symptomology in otherwise healthy adults: A pilot study. J Altern Complement Med 10:1015-1018, 2004.

Hanai H, et al: Curcumin maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis: Randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 4:1502-1506, 2006

Kuptniratsaikul V, et al: Efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts in patients with knee osteoarthritis. J Altern Complement Med 15:891-897, 2009.

Ng TP, et al: Curry consumption and cognitive function in the elderly. Am J Epidemiol 164:898-906, 2006

Baum L, et al: Six-month randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, pilot clinical trial of curcumin in patients with Alzheimer disease. J Clin Psychopharmacol 28:110-113, 2008

Ravindran J, et al: Curcumin and cancer cells: How many ways can curry kill tumor cells selectively AAPS J 11:495-510, 2009

Dhillon N, et al: Phase II trial of curcumin in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res 14:4491-4499, 2008. Somasundaram S, et al: Dietary curcumin inhibits chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in models of human breast cancer. Cancer Res 62:3868-3875, 2002.

Bayet-Robert M, et al: Phase I dose escalation trial of docetaxel plus curcumin in patients with advanced and metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Biol Ther 9:8-14, 2010.

Kunnynajjara AB, et al: Curcumin potentiates antitumor activity of gemcitabine in an orthotopic model of pancreatic cancer through suppression of proliferation, angiogenesis, and inhibition of nuclear factor- factor-kappaB-regulated gene products. Cancer Res 67:3853-3861, 2007

Brinker F: Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions, 2nd ed. Sandy, OR, Eclectic Medical Publications, 1998.

Pavithra BH, et al: Modification of pharmacokinetics of norfloxacin following oral administration of curcumin in rabbits. J Vet Sci 10:293-297, 2009.

Zhang W, Lim LY: Effects of spice constituents on P-glycoprotein-mediated transport and CYP3A4-mediated metabolism in vitro. Drug Metab Dispos 36:1283-1290, 2008.

Zhang W, et al: Impact of curcumin-induced changes in P-glycoprotein and CYP3A expression on the pharmacokinetics of peroral celiprolol and midazolam in rats. Drug Metab Dispos 35:110-115, 2007

{/slider}