Organisation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), AGST
Prepared by Anne Plotto.
Edited by François Mazaud, Alexandra Röttger, Katja Steffel, Larissa D'Aquilio (HTML transfer)

CHAPTER XXIX TURMERIC: Post-Production Management for Improved Market Access for Herbs and Spices - Turmeric

1 Introduction
1.1 Global production and trade
1.2 Main consumption areas and trends;
1.3 Primary products
1.4 Secondary and derived product
1.5 Requirements for export and quality assurance
  1.5.1 Cleanliness specifications for spices
  1.5.2 Turmeric oleoresin specifications
  1.5.3 Requirements for organic spices and products

1. Introduction

As a dried rhizome of a herbaceous plant, turmeric is closely related to ginger. The spice is also sometimes called "Indian saffron" thanks to its yellow color.¹ The underground rhizome imparts a distinctive flavor to food but it is also used to provide food with a deep, indelible orange color. In the form of this fine, dried, yellow powder, turmeric is mostly sold to customers in developed countries. Turmeric is used in a wide variety of foods of the cuisines of Southern Asia but locally it also applies as an antiseptic for skin abrasions and cuts.⁴⁶

1.1 Global production and trade

While there is speculation that turmeric may have originated from South or South-East Asia, its center of domestication is certainly the Indian subcontinent.^19,39 Currently, India is the major producer of turmeric, and it is also the major user of its own production (Table 1). Turmeric is part of Indian's culture: it is an important ingredient in curry dishes; it is also used in many religious observances, as a cosmetic, a dye, and it enters in the composition of many traditional remedies.^13,19,39

Figure 1.	Figure 1a.

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.^19,56 Turmeric and curry powder exports from India are listed in Table 2.

Table 1: Turmeric production in India

Table 2: Turmeric and curry powder exports from India^a

^a: Indian Spice Board Statistics: http://www.indianspices.com/html/s0420sts.htm
^b: estimate
^c: 1 US$ ˜ 42 INR in 1998; 1US$ = 45.8 INR Aug. 2003

Ground turmeric powder exports from India were 12,000 t in 1999, and had doubled in 10 years from 1990 to 199956. During the same period, turmeric oil and oleoresin exports rose from 0.5 t to 4.0 t and from 150 to 250 t, respectively.⁵⁶

Figure 2. Turmeric plantation ⁵⁸

1.2 Main consumption areas and trends

Asian countries consume much of their own turmeric production, except for Japan and Sri Lanka. Major importers are the Middle East and North African countries, Iran, Japan and Sri Lanka19,56. These importing countries represent 75% of the turmeric world trade, and are mostly supplied by the Asian producing countries.⁵⁶ Europe and North America represent the remaining 15%, and are supplied by India and Central and Latin American countries.⁵⁶ Taiwan exports mostly to Japan. ¹⁹ The United States imports of turmeric come from India at 97%, and the rest is supplied by the islands of the Pacific, and Thailand.¹³

Tables 3 and 4 show turmeric imports by the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. Quantities and prices for these countries were stable over the period 1997-2002. However, the increasing demand for natural products as food additives makes turmeric an ideal candidate as a food colorant, thus increasing demand for it. Additionally, recent medical research demonstrating the anti-cancer and anti-viral activities of turmeric may also increase its demand in Western countries.

As an indication of its value, the delivered price of turmeric on the New York market was 1,300 $/ton (Indian Madras fingers) and 1,455 $/ton (Indian Alleppey fingers) in mid-2001.⁵⁶

Table 3: Turmeric imports in the US in the period 1998-2002 (metric tons; US $1,000)^a

1.3 Primary Products

There are two dominant types of turmeric found on the world market: 'Madras', and 'Alleppey', both named after the regions of production in India. The orange-yellow flesh Alleppey turmeric is predominantly imported by the United States, where users prefer it as a spice and a food colorant.¹³ Alleppey turmeric contains about 3.5% to 5.5% volatile oils, and 4.0% to 7.0% curcumin.^13,15,56

In contrast, the Madras type contains only 2% of volatile oils and 2% of curcumin.¹³ The Madras turmeric is preferred by the British and Middle Eastern markets for its more intense, brighter and lighter yellow color, better suited for the mustard paste and curry powder or paste used in oriental dishes.^13,26 Turmeric produced in the Caribbean, Central and South America has low curcumin and volatile oil contents, and is darker26,53; it is not desired by the U.S. importers¹³. The Bengal type is preferred for use in dyes in India.¹⁹It is interesting to note that in the United States, turmeric is considered as a spice by the food industry, whereas it is classified as a food colorant by the FDA.⁵³

Dried rhizome

Turmeric is mostly imported as a whole rhizome, which is then processed into powder or oleoresin by flavor houses and the industrial sector.^13,26 Rhizomes come as fingers, bulbs and splits. Fingers are the secondary branches from the mother rhizome, the bulb, and splits are the bulbs cut into halves or quarters before curing.^26,53 The fingers are 2 to 8 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide, and are easier to grind than the more fibrous bulbs and splits, and therefore command a higher price.¹³ Rhizome quality is judged by a clean and smooth skin, uniform skin and flesh colors, and a clean snap (or "metallic twang" as described by the Indian Ministry of Agriculture standards, Agmark) when broken.⁵⁶ Turmeric cleanliness specifications for import pertain to whole rhizomes.¹²

Turmeric powder

Ground turmeric is mostly used on the retail market, and by the food processors. Rhizomes are ground to approximately 60-80 mesh particle size.¹⁵ Since curcuminoids, the color constituents of turmeric, deteriorate with light and to a lesser extent, under heat and oxidative conditions¹⁵, it is important that ground turmeric be packed in a UV protective packaging and appropriately stored. Turmeric powder is a major ingredient in curry powders and pastes. In the food industry, it is mostly used to color and flavor mustard.¹³ It is also used in chicken bouillon and soups, sauces, gravies, and dry seasonings.⁵³ Recently the powder has also been used as a colorant in cereals.¹⁵

1.4 Secondary and derived product

Curry powder

Turmeric is such an important ingredient in curry powder that it merits special mention. In its export statistics of spices, the Indian Spice Board specifically lists curry powder exports. (see table 2)

The turmeric content in curry powder blends ranges from 10-15% to 30%.²⁶ Typical Indian curry powder for meat and fish dishes contains 20-30% turmeric, 22-26% coriander, 12% and 10% cardamom and cumin, respectively, 4% or 10% fenugreek, ginger, cayenne, cloves and fennel in proportions from 1% to 7%.²⁶ Curry mixes for vegetarian dishes contain less turmeric, in the range of 5 to 10%, because of the bitter flavor it would impart to the dish.

Figure 4. Turmeric powder ⁶⁰

Oleoresins

Turmeric extractives, or oleoresins, are obtained by solvent extraction of the powdered or comminutated rhizome. This process yields about 12 % of an orange/red viscous liquid, which, depending on the solvent used for extraction and on the turmeric type and cultivar, contains various proportions of the coloring matter, i.e. the curcuminoids, the volatile oils which impart the flavor to the product, and non-volatile fatty and resinous materials.²⁶

The compounds of interest in turmeric oleoresin are the curcuminoids (40 to 55%), and the volatile oils (15 to 20%).15,26 The curcuminoids, which consist mostly of curcumin (1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione), and also demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemetoxycurcumin, can be further purified to a crystalline material, and will be used preferably in products where the turmeric flavor is undesirable, such as cheese, ice cream, beverages and baked products¹³. Curcumin has similar color characteristics than the synthetic food colorant tartrazine (FD&C yellow No. 5); however, unlike tartrazine, it is highly sensitive to light and alkaline pH, and is also degraded by heat and chemical oxidants. It is therefore not easy to use in food processes and products destined to long-term storage. It is nevertheless of commercial interest as a natural food colorant, and research is underway to improve its stability. ¹⁵

Upon appropriate dilution with a vegetable oil, propylene glycol or polysorbates, the oleoresin gives a bright yellow liquid with the characteristic turmeric aroma, slightly bitter and pungent taste.^{26, 56} The oleoresin may also be spray-dried on a sugar matrix such as maltodextrin to a powder, and can be used as a colorant in dry cereals or beverages.¹⁵ The advantage of spray-dried turmeric oleoresin over ground turmeric powder is that it is devoid of starch, the predominant component in dried rhizome, and also proteins and other fibers.¹⁵ Turmeric oleoresin exported from India in 1998 was ranked third, after pepper and paprika oleoresins.⁴¹

Essential oil

Turmeric essential oil has little interest in the Western food industry, and it has no commercial value, as opposed to oleoresin.^{26, 56} However, there is an increasing literature showing medicinal activities of turmeric, of which some are attributable to compounds present in the volatile fraction.27 Turmeric essential oil is obtained by distillation⁵⁶, or by supercritical fluid extraction of the powdered rhizome.²⁵ It is also the product of curcuminoids purification from oleoresins.^{27, 55} The latter procedure, which consists in removing the oil with hexane or other lipophilic solvent, tends to alter the oil by loss of higher volatile molecules in the process of solvent evaporation; or, if alcohol is used as the solvent, artifacts are formed by esterification, etherification and acetal formation.²⁵

The major compounds found in turmeric oil, up to 50-60%, are the sesquiterpene ketones, ß-, and ar-turmerone.³⁴ The sesquiterpenes zingeberene and ar-curcumene were either not reported, or found at as high as 25% and 35%, respectively^{34, 56}. In general, there is a tremendous variation in published compositions of turmeric essential oils³⁴, and such variation was also observed in one study, within rhizomes collected from the sub-Himalayan region of the Tarai in India.²⁴

Medicinal and biological properties of turmeric

Turmeric and isolated compounds from turmeric have demonstrated a remarkable variety of beneficial pharmacological activities. These include antioxidant^51,47, antiarthritic, antimutagenic⁴², antitumor⁴⁴, anti-tumor promotion⁵², antithrombotic⁴⁹, ⁵⁰, antivenom by neutralizing the hemorrhagic effect of the venom in mice²¹, antibacterial⁴⁰, antifungal³⁶, antiviral³⁸, nematocidal²⁹, choleretic and antihepatotoxic³¹ activities. Low incidence of Alzheimers disease in regions where turmeric is extensively used in cuisine and as an herbal remedy suggests that it may protect against this disease since areas of high consumption such as those in India have very low Alzheimers incidence.⁵⁴ Further, a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimers has shown favorable response to curcumin therapy.³⁵

Little or no toxicity is reported for humans receiving large (8 g/day18) therapeutic doses of curcumin, an important major component of turmeric. Rather than exhibiting dose dependent toxicity, rodent experiments have shown that administration of the major metabolite of curcumin from early in life can extend median life span by 11%.30 The record of use of turmeric in Indian traditional ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years supports its possible therapeutic efficacy and its likely low toxicity.^11,28

All these findings about turmeric biological activities make it a good candidate for development of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, or food ingredients with functional properties.

1.5 Requirements for export and quality assurance
1.5.1 Cleanliness specifications for spices

USA
When a food or cosmetic product is imported to the United States, the U.S. Customs notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who initiates the inspection procedure. The FDA may sample a lot because of the nature of the product, or past history with similar products, but not all the lots are necessarily sampled by FDA. The FDA has determined Defect Action Levels (DALs) that define the level of foreign materials. Spices that are contaminated or adulterated need proper sanitation and reconditioning, or are destroyed or returned to the exporting country. When a lot needs sanitation or reconditioning, it is tested again after the procedure.

The American Spice Trade Association, Inc., has established cleanliness specifications that meet or exceed the FDA food defect action levels. ASTA has a voluntary commodity tracking program, which spice buyers may use as assurance that the spice purchased meet ASTA's cleanliness standards. This program requires that the lot is examined by an ASTA-approved independent laboratory, and passes all the requirements of the FDA, and the ASTA's cleanliness specifications. For more information on the ASTA's program, the reader should consult ASTA's web site, at http://www.astaspice.com. Tainter and Grenis⁵³ give a good overview of the FDA and ASTA's programs.

The ASTA Cleanliness Specification have become a standard for most exporting countries, who have built their facilities to meet those requirements. Importing countries that do not have specified standards may have used ASTA's specifications.¹

Table 5: ASTA Cleanliness specifications for turmeric

ASTA sampling guidelines are as follows: precisely weighed samples are passed through a sieve (U.S. Standard No 8, or standard pepper sieve No 9) with a white paper underneath to observe foreign matter, insects and mammalian excreta. Rhizomes are examined for mold and defiling insects. Foreign matter is reported by count (insects) or by weight¹.

European Union
EU-member countries such as the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands have their own specifications. The European Spice Association (ESA) has a set of "quality minima for herbs and spices", but has yet to finalize the cleanliness specification standards for spices and spice products.

Table 6: ESA quality minima for turmeric

Extraneous matter and foreign matter should not exceed 1% and 2%, respectively. Should be free from live and/or dead insects, insect fragments and rodent contamination visible to the naked eye (corrected if necessary for abnormal vision).

Salmonella must be absent in (at least) 25 g of material. Yeast and mold: 10⁵/g (target), absolute maximum: 10⁶/g. E. coli: 10²/g (target), absolute maximum: 10³/g.

The European Union has fixed limits for aflatoxin, which should not exceed 10 ppb (total aflatoxins), and 5 ppb for aflatoxin B1. Individual European Union member countries have their own limits varying from 1 to 20 ppb. In the United States, aflatoxin B1 should not exceed 20 ppb.²

1.5.2 Turmeric oleoresin specifications

USA
The US Code of Federal Regulations 21 CFR 73.615 defines turmeric oleoresin as the "combination of flavor and color principles obtained from turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) by extraction using any one or the combination of the following solvents: acetone, ethyl alcohol, ethylene dichloride, hexane, isopropyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, methylene chloride, or trichloroethylene". The residue allowed in the product should not exceed that residue for that specific solvent: 30 ppm for acetone and chlorinated solvents, 50 ppm for methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol.²⁶

Turmeric oleoresin is described as a "deep red or orange red, somewhat viscid liquid, with characteristic odor".²⁶ Turmeric oleoresin is valued for its curcumin content, but there is no standard specification for a minimum amount of curcumin.

1.5.3 Requirements for organic spices and products

To be sold as "organic", a product must be certified by an accredited certification body. There are slight differences in standards between countries. IFOAM, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement, has established organic production, processing and trading standards, and tried to harmonize certification systems worldwide.⁴⁵ National and regional governments are also trying to work under a compatible minimum set of standards.

The European Union (EU) has established basic regulations for organic products in 1991 (Council regulation 2092/91), which apply to all products marketed as "organic", "biologic", "ecologic", "biodynamic", or similar terms. Imports may be accepted through procedures conforming to the exporting country's regulations, or by review of the certification documents, which accompany each shipment. The EU regulation sets a minimum standard, and member states or private certification bodies may certify to standards that meet or exceed the EU regulation 2092/91.

In the United States, the Organic Food Production Act (OFPA) was passed into law in 1990, and since October 2002 has made organic production and processing uniformly regulated across all of the United States. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is administering the National Organic Program (NOP). ³

In general, to be labeled "organic", a product must be grown following organic agricultural practices. Post harvest handling and processing must be done in certified facilities, whether on the farm or in food packing or processing facilities. Only mechanical, thermal or biological methods can be used in organic processing. The use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) (plants, animals or bacteria) and products of GMO are prohibited in organic production. Likewise, ionizing radiation and sewage sludge are prohibited from organic agricultural practices. Labels of organic products must identify the certification body.

Japanese organic standards (Japan Agricultural Standards, JAS) generally follow the U.S. NOP standards. However, JAS does not allow organic labeling on products that contain less than 95% organic ingredients (the EU and NOP allow labeling "made with organic ingredients" for products that contain between 70% and 95% organic ingredients).

In addition to standards pertaining to the production of organic products, IFOAM basic standards include environmental and social justice requirements. For example, IFOAM basic standards ⁶ include "2.1.1: operators shall take measures to maintain and improve landscape and enhance biodiversity quality"; or "8.1: operators shall have a policy on social justice"; or "8.5: operators shall provide their employees and contractors equal opportunity and treatment, and shall not act in a discriminatory way"; or "8.6: children employed by organic operators shall be provided with educational opportunities".

IFOAM, EU and U.S. organic standards include lists that allow the use of specific synthetic, non-agricultural or non-organic agricultural substances. If a substance does not appear on those lists, it must not be used on an organic product, in the process or as an ingredient. Those lists differ slightly, and operators producing for export markets to Europe, United States and Japan should consult and compare those lists carefully to assure compliance in each country. ⁴

To comply with organic standards and practices, the operator must document all farming and post harvest activities. The following records must be maintained: farm field map, field history, activity register, input records including purchases, output records including sales, harvest records, storage records, pest control records, movement records, equipment cleaning and labeling. All such documentation must meet specific standards that are enumerated in directives issued by the certification agencies.

In the processing plant, the operator must present an "organic handling plan" that will show how contamination from prohibited materials and commingling with non-organic products will be prevented. This includes a detailed description of the process, receiving and storage of ingredients and finished products, cleaning and sanitation of the processing equipment, facilities pest management, and a documentary "paper trail" that must permanently record all of the above.

For the spice and oleoresins production, ionizing radiation and the use of volatile synthetic solvents are prohibited for use in the processing of organic products.

¹Percent calculation formula are given in the ASTA Cleanliness Specifications manual, method 14.1, page13-1713.

² Detailed specifications for quality standards, pesticide residues and aflatoxin levels for some individual European countries may be found at: http://www.indianspices.com/html/s1490qua.htm

³ The final rules to implement the OFPA were published in the Federal Register in 2000 (7 CFR Part 205).

⁴ For reference, the IFOAM lists are contained in Appendices 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the IFOAM basic standards (http://www.ifoam.org). The USDA National List for allowed non organic (non agricultural and agricultural) ingredients is under § 205.605 and § 205.606 of the Federal Register, Vol. 65, No 246, and can be found at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NationalList/FinalRule.html
EU lists for processing are under Annex VI-A, VI-B, and VI-C. EC 2092/91 regulation and amendments may be found by searching Euro-lex, at:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/search/search_lif.html, using the year descriptor "1991", and document number "2092".