Phytochemical and Nutrient Constituents of Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Abstract

Different solvent were used for analyzing the main phytochemical , nutrient and mineral composition of turmeric rhizomes powder(Curcuma longa) ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, methanol, DMSO and water were used respectively as solvents for the preparation of rhizomes turmeric extracts. The Preliminary tests of active groups in extracts were carried out .It appeared to contain (alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, carbohydrates, terpenes ,tannins, qumarine , saponin, quinone, free amino acids, crude protein, and phenolic compounds) .the extracts were differed in their content of active groups quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative content of (phenolic compounds ,flavonoids, tannins, the ratio of curcumin in powder plant, curcumin in the alcoholic extract, curcumin in etheric extracted, the color ratio in alcoholic extract and color ratio in etheric extracted)were estimated.The results indicated that the concentration of phenolic compounds 14.500±0.70 mg/100 ml ,Percentage of flavonoids was (8.873±0.29) %, while the concentration of tannin 360.752±6.749 mg/100 g. The curcumin ratio in plant powder amounted to 2.490±0.098 %, curcumin in alcoholic extract 24.684±0.13%, curcumin in etheric extracted 1.156±0.02 %, the proportion of color in the alcoholic extract and etheric extract were 3243.5±17.67, 153±1.41 respectivelyThe amount of moisture and the concentration of crude protein and carbohydrates, total oil and crude fiber, total ash and nitrogen content and caloric value on a dry weight basis, were found to be 6.152±0.27% humidity solid material 93.848±0.27%,the concentration of carbohydrates 36±8.48%, crude protein 7.737%, and the percentage of oil 2.637±0.22 %, while the percentage of fiber 23.280±1.2 %, The percentage of ash were 8.694 ± 0.03%, and the caloric value for turmeric rhizomes powder is 198.693 kcal /100 g. Trace elements were also estimated. Turmeric plant was found to contain potassium 5532.5 μg/g, magnesium 715 μg/g ,sodium 194.5 μg/g ,iron 185 μg/g ,calcium 104.25 μg/g ,manganese 30μg/g , lead ,zinc and cadmium (10 , 6.25 , 2.75)μg/g respectively finally The nitrogen content was found to be 1.238%.The present study showed that turmeric is a very rich source of antioxidant ,minerals , and energy. So that is very important to be entered the system of human nutrition