Posts Tagged ‘essential oil’

Zingiberaceae: Curcuma Longa

Zingiberaceae: Curcuma LongaThe plants of the Zingiberaceae family are used on all continents, mainly in the tropical-equatorial regions, for their odoriferous properties, cooking (spices) and medicinal plants, which are shared to varying degrees by all genres

The best known, Zingiber, Curcuma, Hydechium, from Eurasia but subspontaneous or cultivated throughout the world even for purely American genres (Costus, Renealmia).
They also include types Kaemferia, Alpinia, Ammomum, Boesenbergia.
These are generally large weeds, perennial from a rhizome, preferring damp locations

They are grown for their rhizome (turmeric, ginger) or as decorative plants for their colorful flower spikes and large leaves (pink porcelain iris from Florence).

In traditional medicine it is used to treat many ailments:

* As “regulators” of female genital disorders: Antiabortifacient, emmenagogue (see glossary), regulator of menstruation,
* As an anti-inflammatory, antipyretic (see glossary), antirheumatic,
* In the broncho-pulmonary diseases: asthma, cough suppressants and expectorants (see glossary)

* Finally, to treat various digestive disorders: antiemetic, antiulcer, antispasmodic and antidyspeptiques (see glossary).

The TURMERIC been important crop in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China but also in the Caribbean and some Pacific islands. Vivace by its rhizome, turmeric has large sheathing leaves and a spike of yellow flowers with bracts tinged with pink or purple. We harvest the rhizome after withering of the aerial parts, it is dried, stripped of its roots and scaly skin. The fracture shows the inside yellow to red-orange smell aromatic