Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, requiring temperatures between 20 and 30 ¡ÆC and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive.
It has been a centre of attraction for potential treatrment of an arry of diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, allergies and other chronic illnesses.It is a one of key ingredients in many Asian dishes. Although typically its used in dried powdered from, turmeric is also used fresh like ginger. It has numerous uses in far Eastern recipes, such as pickles made from fresh turmeric that contains large chunks of soft turmeric. Turmeric is widely used as spice in South Asian and Eastern cooking.