History and Lore

A member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), turmeric is a robust, herbaceous perennial plant believed to be indigenous to India, though it has never been found in the wild. It looks like the ginger plant, with yellowish leaves rising from edible yellow rhizomes. The latter have been used for centuries as a dye, spice, and medicine. Turmeric is believed to have reached China by the eighth century, East Africa by the ninth century, West Africa four centuries later, and Jamaica by the eighteenth century. In many languages, the name for turmeric means “yellow root.” In others, the name is often linked to its botantical kin, ginger, such as the Chinese jiang huang, or “yellow ginger.”