Studies on physico-chemical properties of turmeric powder

Abstract

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizome grown in India and use as a spices and also for other domestic purposes like aurvedic medicine, holy occasions etc. Turmeric is an economical and important spice of India. Normally, the fresh turmeric rhizomes stored as dried bulbs after processing and consequently grind to make powder as per the requirement. In India, there are different methods of turmeric processing varied with the region. In general there are two common methods of processing i.e. with boiling and without boiling. In the present investigation turmeric powder was prepared by two different methods and stored for 180 days in different packaging materials and the physic-chmeical properties were studied after 30 days each. It was found that with the increase in the storage period of up to 180 days the quality of turmeric powder was deteriorated with respect to time period in both normal and refrigerated conditions. The quality parameters were list affected which are stored in plastic container at refrigerated condition. The overall changes in quality parameter during storage is moisture content increased from 14.60% (db) to 16.98, curcumin content decreased from 2.816 to 0.526 percent and olioresin content decreased from 10.303 to 7.014 percent.