Studies on quality of turmeric powder influenced by pre–treatments of fresh sliced rhizomes

The curcumin is an active component of turmeric which is highly valued and ingredient of many traditional herbal medicines. The objective of the present experiment was to retain the curcumin in turmeric powder and to improve the quality of turmeric powder. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with ten different treatments. An attempt was made to to address the concerns about reduction in curcumin content due to the traditional curing and processing methods and to prepare high quality turmeric powder by assessing the effect of various pre–treatments on the chemical and physical parameters. The results indicated that blanching of turmeric rhizomes at 90ºC ±2ºC for 5 minutes significantly impacts the physical, chemical, and sensory properties of the turmeric powder. The beneficial compounds like curcumin, polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, oleoresins and essential oil in blanched rhizomes was retained in turmeric powder which helps in optimizing the nutritional and medicinal value of turmeric.