EAST INDIAN ARROWROOT 



CURCUMA 



ANOUSTIFOL.IA 



Narrow-leaved Turmeric 



becomes important in times of scarcity or is used to adulterate that of c. un- 

 gtiistifnlia. [Cf. Cooke, I.e. 730.] 



Long and C. Zedoaria, Kosc. ; Cooke, I.e. 732. The long and round Zedoary, kachura, 



Round sati, shori, zurambdd, uruk-el-kdfur, kich-chitick-kizJiangu, thanu-wen, etc. This 



Zedoary. plant is wild in the Eastern Himalaya and cultivated here and there throughout 

 India. Roxburgh observed that it was a native of Chittagong, whence the 

 Bengal supply was derived. The round zedoary of the shops is greyish-white 

 and compact. It has a bitter and strong camphoraceous taste. The long 

 zedoary has the same odour and flavour. The red powder, abir, used by Hindus 

 at the Holi festival was formerly largely made from the rhizome of this plant. 

 The powder is purified, dried, and mixed with a decoction of sappan-wood. The 

 rhizomes constitute one of the most important articles of Native perfumery, and 

 a considerable supply is sent from Ceylon to Bombay, the price being about 

 Us. 20 to 30 per candy of 7 cwt. [Cf. Ain-i-Akbari (Gladwin, transl.), i., 104; 

 Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, i., 293 ; Montgomery Martin, Hist. E. Ind., 1838, 

 iii., 241-2; Paulus JEgineta (Adams, Comment.), iii., 434-6; Pharmacog., I.e. 

 399-403 ; Firminger, Man. Qard. Ind. (ed Cameron), 1904, 378-9.] 



Indian 

 Arrowroot. 



Habitat. 



Wild Tubers. 



Planting in 

 Madras. 



Yield. 



Preparation 

 of Flour. 



Profit. 



Cultivation 

 in Bengal. 



Trade. 



Food for 

 Children. 



Adulterants. 



Price. 



C. angustifolia, Roxb. ; Pharmacog., I.e. 405-7 ; Wicsner, Die 

 Rohst. des Pflanzenr, i., 612-3. East Indian Arrowroot, Narrow-leaved 

 Turmeric, the tikhur, tikar, tankir, tavakhira (tavakshiri), ararut-ke-gadde, 

 ararut-kishangu, kuva, etc. A native of the central tracts of India from 

 the mountains of Bengal to Bombay and Madras and, according to some 

 writers, of the N.W. Himalaya as well. It is particularly abundant in the 

 Central Provinces, especially the Upper Godavari district ; a considerable 

 trade in the tubers exists at Raipur and Malabar. The arrowroot of the 

 wild tuber is said to be largely prepared and traded in from Cochin and 

 Travancore to Kanara (Malabar arrowroot). [Cf. Hanausek, Micro. Tech. 

 Prod. (Winton and Barber, transl.), 1907, 46.] 



According to Madras experience the sets are planted late in autumn in 

 properly prepared soil, are watered occasionally during the dry season, and 

 cropped in January. Owing to the dryness of the soil the tubers have, as a rule, 

 to be dug up, not ploughed up, and this process is somewhat tedious. The 

 yield on the prepared soil of the Sydapet Experimental Farm, Madras, was found 

 to be 3,944 Ib. of tubers, or 493 Ib. of prepared flour per acre. A plot cultivated 

 in the college 'Experimental Garden yielded at the rate of 7,500 Ib. of tubers 

 or 937 Ib. of flour per acre. In preparing the flour, the tubers, after being well 

 washed, are pulped on a grater and the starch and fibre separated by the use 

 of water. It is then strained through a cloth and the fibre thereby separated ; the 

 starch is again washed, then sun-dried, and finally broken into fine flour. If 

 sold at 4 annas per Ib. the profit per acre would be about Rs. 400. The resulting 

 starch is fine, and the best specimens of it have been even compared to the true 

 arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea, p. 773), but the granules are flat and always 

 stratified. Mr. Nibaran Chandra Chodhury in 1901 wrote an instructive note 

 describing the cultivation of this tuber in Bakarganj, which does not, however, 

 differ materially from the Madras experience and results briefly indicated. 



A fairly large trade exists in tikhur or tankir arrowroot all over India. It is 

 used as a substitute for ordinary arrowroot, but regarded as less desirable medi- 

 cally. It is, however, a favourite article of food among the Natives, especially 

 for children. The Travancore arrowroot is reported to be not infrequently 

 mixed with the starch of cassava or tapioca (Manihot utilissima, p. 766). In 

 Upper India it is said the starch of the sweet potato is sometimes employed as an 

 adulterant, and in Bombay the colourless young tubers of the ordinary turmeric 

 are mixed with those of this plant. Of the trade, though known to be extensive, 

 no details are available. In Bombay, Malabar arrowroot is said to fetch from 

 Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 per maund of 28 Ib. 



The late Dr. Lisboa (Notes on Mahableshwar and Other Indian Arrowroot- 

 yielding PL in Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., 1887, ii., 140-7) gives much useful 

 information regarding this arrowroot. He would appear to think that much 

 of the East Indian Arrowroot of Western India (especially that of Mahableshwar) 

 is derived from the tubers of mtchenin eaiiiinn, Baker. [Cf. Cooke, Fl. Pres. 

 Bomb., ii., 728.] He then mentions as substitutes and adulterants to the true 



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