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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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