Botanical Name: Curcuma Zedoaria
Family Name: Zingiberaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Curcuma
Species: C. zedoaria
Popular Names: White Turmeric, Kachur
Part Used: Rhizomes
Habitat: Weed found all over India.
Description
Zedoary, also known as white turmeric, is a rhizome with a thin brown skin and a bright orange, hard interior. Its smell is similar to that of turmeric and mango. The perennial herb has a warm-spicy, woody and camphoraceous cineolic odour and bears yellow shiny flowers, with red and green bracts. The ovate leaves possess purple-coloured spots and are 1 to 2 feet long, narrowing at the base. The fruits are triangular and ovate in shape while the seeds are oval or spear-shaped.
Zedoary plant is native to India and Indonesia. However, it is widely used as a spice in the West today. It is also found in the sub-tropical regions of eastern Nepal. Because of its mango-like fragrance, zedoary is called amb halad in many Indian languages (amb means mango). Some other common names are kachur in Hindi, karchur in Sanskrit, shatkachuro in Gujarati and Meitei Yaingang in Manipuri. Though zedoary is cultivated throughout India yet it is mainly found in eastern Himalayan region and Karnataka.
Plant Chemicals
(+)- germacrone-4, 1,8-cineole, 5-epoxide, germacrone, furanodienone, curzerenone, zederone, dehydrocurdione, curcumenol, isocurcumenol, curcumenone, curmanolide A, curmanolide B.
Uses and Benefits of Zedoary
- Since zedoary is anti-inflammatory, its paste is used on inflammation, wounds, skin ailments and pain.
- The herb serves as a body stimulant and purifies blood.
- It is very effective in treating respiratory disorders, tones up uterus and works as an aphrodisiac agent.
- Zedoary improves digestion, improves liver condition and normalizes body temperature.
- The herb, when taken in powdered form, helps regularize menstruation.
- In the juice form, it is used to treat urine-related disorders and urinary tract infections.
- Zedoary is used as a gastro-intestinal stimulant in flatulent colic and prevents stress ulceration as well.
- It helps cure dyspepsia, colic, vomiting and cough.
- The herb proves useful in case of abdominal cramps, amenorrhoea-abdominal pain and rheumatic pain. It is also used in anti-periodic pills.
- Zedoary is used as anti-venom for the Indian cobra.
- It is used in the manufacture of liquors, stomach essences, bitters, perfumes and cosmetics.
- In India, the herb is either cooked fresh or used in preparing pickles. In Indonesia, it is ground to paste and used in curries.
