TURMERIC 



123 



Inner Structure. Epidermal layer of thin-walled cells; occa- 

 sionally a hypodermal layer of suberized parenchymatous cells; 

 parenchyma of cortex and pith filled with starch paste in which are 

 sometimes seen the long lens-shaped unaltered starch grains; dis- 

 tributed among the parenchyma are the oil cells having suberized 

 walls and in the lumina either orange-yellow globules of a volatile 

 oil or amorphous resinous masses; the endodermis consists of thin- 

 walled partly suberized cells; the vascular bundles are of the col- 

 lateral type and sclerenchymatous fibers are only occasionally present. 



Powder. Bright yellow. See Fig. 52. 



FIG. 52. Curcuma (Turmeric) : P, fragments of parenchyma containing swollen 

 and altered starch grains which form an indistinguishable mass within the 

 cells and constitute the greater proportion of the powder; T, tracheae; S, 

 unaltered starch grains. 



Constituents. From 1 to 5 per cent of an orange-yellow, some- 

 what fluorescent volatile oil; about 0.3 per cent of curcumin, which 

 crystallizes in orange-red, short rods or prisms having a beautiful 

 blue refraction, and is freely soluble in alcohol, ether, fixed, and vola- 

 tile oils; from 30 to 40 per cent of starch; 4 to 7 per cent of ash; and 

 a small quantity of a fixed oil. 



East Indian Arrowroot. Also known as Bombay, Malabar, or 

 Tellicherry-Arrowroot is the starch obtained from Curcuma angusti- 

 folia and other species of Curcuma. The starch is manufactured in 



