An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plant Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae)

Common Names
Turmeric; Indian Saffron
How this plant is used
Food
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
ISOBORNEOL 7 Tuber not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ISOPROCURCUMENOL 0 Rhizome not available 1.6 not available Duke, 1992 *
L-ALPHA-CURCUMENE 0 Rhizome not available 18000.0 not available Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
L-BETA-CURCUMENE 0 Rhizome not available 18000.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
LIMONENE 60 Essential Oil not available 2300.0 -0.72 Duke, 1992 *
LIMONENE 60 Leaf not available 125.0 -0.32 Duke, 1992 *
LIMONENE 60 Rhizome not available 80.0 -1.05 Duke, 1992 *
LIMONENE 60 Rhizome Essent. Oil not available 2300.0 -0.78 Duke, 1992 *
LIMONENE 60 Tuber not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
LINALOL 0 Essential Oil not available 1600.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
LINALOOL 53 Rhizome not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
LINALOOL 53 Rhizome Essent. Oil not available 1600.0 -1.00 Duke, 1992 *
LINALOOL 53 Tuber not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MAGNESIUM 65 Plant 3038.0 9800.0 1.78 Duke, 1992 *
MANGANESE 14 Plant 2.5 8.2 -0.64 Duke, 1992 *
MANGANESE 14 Rhizome 33.0 78.0 -0.32 Duke, 1992 *
MONODEMETHOXYCURCUMIN 0 Rhizome not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MONODEMETHOXYCURCUMIN 0 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MONODESMETHOXYCURCUMIN 0 Rhizome not available not available not available Leung, A.Y., Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980.
NIACIN 39 Plant 22.0 70.0 -0.09 Duke, 1992 *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Protease-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Protein-Kinase-C-Inhibitor 3 Naim, M., Zehavi, U., Nagy, S., and Rouseff, R.L. Hydroxycinnamic Acids as Off-Flavor Precursors in Citrus Fruits and Their Products. Phenolic Compounds in Food and Their Effects on Health, Ch.14.
Protein-Kinase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
PTK-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Pulmonoprotective 1 Duke, 1992 *
Quinone-Reductase-Inducer 4 Singletary, K., et al. 1998. Effect of the Beta-Diketones Diferoloylmethane (Curcumin) and Dibenzoylmethane on Rat Mammary DNA Adducts and Tumors Induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(A)anthracene. Carcinogenesis, 19(6): 1039-1043.
Radioprotective 1 Duke, 1992 *
RES-Activator 2 Duke, 1992 *
Respirainhibitor 1 Merck 11th Edition
Respirastimulant 1 Huang, K. C. 1993. The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL 388 pp.
Rubefacient 2 Duke, 1992 *
Schizophrenigenic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Secretogogue 2 Duke, 1992 *
Sedative 13 Wagner & Wolff, eds. 1977. New Natural Products (RS164. I56. 176)
Serotoninergic 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Sortase-A-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
Spasmogenic 5 Fitoterapia No.59-1984.
Spermicide 1 Malini, T. and Vanithakumari, G. 1989. Rat Toxicity Studies With B-Sitosterol. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 28: 221-234, 1990.
Spermigenic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Stimulant 1 R.J. Hixtable (Huxtable, R.J. (as T. Max). 1992. This and That:The Essential Pharmacology of Herbs and Spices. Tips 13:15-20 Huxtable, R.J. 1992b. The Myth of Benficent Nature. The Risk of Herbal Preparations. Anns. Intern. Med. 117(2):165-6; Huxtable, R.