ABSTRACT
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Turmeric is an important commercial crop grown for its aromatic rhizomes used for culinary and cosmetic purposes since antiquity. Turmeric is the basic ingredient in almost all curry powders and a major source of natural coloring for foodstuffs, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. The color ingredient in turmeric, known as curcumin, is gaining wider use world over to replace the artificial yellow color. Turmeric is reported to be the native of South or Southeast Asia; its center of domestication is probably the Indian subcontinent (UNCTAD/GATT, 1982). Currently India is the largest producer, exporter, and consumer of this commodity in the world. Other producers in Asia include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China, Burma (Myanmar), and Indonesia. Turmeric is also produced in the Caribbean and Latin America: Jamaica, Haiti, Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil. Although there are no authentic figures available to show the actual world production; as of now the world trade in turmeric is around 37,000 t valued at US$40,160 million. This quantity excludes the quantity consumed by the producing countries. India exports hardly 7 to 10% of the total production of 527,980 t (2002 to 2003). The major importing countries are the Japan, Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bangladesh, Singapore, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka accounting for nearly 80% of turmeric traded the world over.
