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Turmeric is known as the “golden spice” as well
as the “spice of life.” It has been used in
India as a medicinal plant, and held sacred from
time immemorial. Turmeric has strong
associations with the socio-cultural life of the
people of the Indian subcontinent. This “earthy
herb of the Sun” with the orange-yellow rhizome
was regarded as the “herb of the Sun” by the
people of the Vedic period.
PROPERTIES OF TURMERIC
According to Ayurveda, turmeric has the
following properties:
Rasa (taste)—Thikta (Bitter) and Katu (pungent)
Guna (property) — Rooksha (irritant, to make
dry, rough)
Veerya (potency) — Ushna (hot)
Vipaka (metabolic property) — Katu (pungent)
INDICATIONS
Turmeric has got a wide range of activities,
properties, and uses as per the ancient
traditional medicine texts, some of which are as
aromatic, stimulant, tonic, carminative, and anthelmintic. It is effective in treating liver
obstruction and dropsy, is externally used for
ulcers and inflammation, cures flatulence,
dyspepsia, anorexia, intermittent fevers,
prurigo, eczema, sprain, bruises, wounds,
inflammatory troubles of joints, small pox,
chicken pox, catarrhal and purulent ophthalmia,
conjunctivitis, cough, ring worm and other
parasitic skin diseases, piles, common cold,
catarrh, coryza, hysterical fits, relieves pain
in scorpion sting, chronic otorrhoea, reduces
indolent swellings, and is used in the treatment
of urinary diseases, leucoderma, diseases of
blood, bad taste in mouth, elephantiasis, diarrhoea, bronchitis, vertigo, and gonorrhoea,
(Nadkarni 1976; Kritikar and Basu 1984). It is
intellect-promoting (Sayana), antidote for snake
venom (Kausika Sutra), in cardiac complaints and
jaundice (Atharva veda samhita).
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