Study of the physico-chemical quality of Curcuma longa (powder and rhizome) marketed in the town of Sétif

Abstract

Over the past two to three decades, renewed interest has been shown in the Curcuma longa plant because of the multiple properties attributed to its spice, properties that are traditionally recognized or empirically observed over hundreds of years of use.  Curcuma longa is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family, cultivated in India and Southeast Asia and considered a coloring spice. Turmeric, especially its rhizome (the underground part), has been used not only as a food spice, but also as a medicinal plant since time immemorial in China and India. The recognition of its medicinal properties is therefore recent in the West. The history of Curcuma is also being written in the future, as much scientific research is being carried out, particularly on the effects of one of its main components, curcuma, in the prevention and treatment of certain cancers. It is in this context that the aim of this work is to evaluate certain parameters of the physicochemical quality of this plant, such as the level of impurity, ash content, moisture content, soluble and insoluble ashes in water, coloring power and chromatography on thin layers on the basis of the standards dictated by the French official journal (JORF).This study was carried out on the two rhizome and powder forms of Curcuma longa marketed. For this, five spice shops (2 samples / shop) were selected at random in the town of Sétif. Analyses of the samples taken were carried out with the collaboration of two laboratories: one INSFP (National Institute for Specialized Professional Training Hadadi Cherif el Hidhab Setif) and the other ERIAD (Riad Setif). The results obtained vary from one type to another and from one store to another.  The analysis of the variance of impurity levels, moisture content, acid insoluble ash and TLC is significant whereas it is not for other parameters such as: total ash, water insoluble ash and colouring power.     Keywords:  Curcuma longa, Rhizome and powder, city of Sétif, Physicochemical parameters, TLC.