

23 



Preparation of the Root- stock. 



Various systems are apparently practised for preparing 

 the rhizome for the market. Of Bengal it has been said : 

 " After the rhizomes have been dug out of the ground, they 

 are freed from the fibrous roots and cleaned. They are then 

 put in earthen pots, the months of which are to be carefully 

 closed with earthern covers and cow-dung. These pots are 

 then carefully heated. The turmeric is made to boil in its own 

 juice, a process which gets rid of the raw smell of turmeric. 

 It is then dried in the sun, the drying taking nearly a week, 

 during which the turmeric requires to be covered in the night 

 to protect it from the dew In some places turmeric is boiled 

 in water in which a little cow-dung is mixed." 



Of the north-west provinces, Sir E. 0. Buck says : "When 

 dug up the roots are boiled and dried in the sun ; in this form 

 they are the turmeric sold in the Indian bazaars. When the 

 dye is to be used the roots are again boiled and powered while 

 wet. A decoction is then made of this paste in water, in which 

 the cloth is well steeped, being subsequently dried in the 

 shade. In the Kumaon district the roots are soaked in lime 

 juice and borax before being powdered instead of being boiled." 

 Of the Punjab, Mr. Baden Powell says : the tubers are taken 

 up in November and dried partly by the action of fire and 

 partly by exposure to the sun. Of Coimbatore it is re- 

 ported: — The roots are carefully sized and separately boiled in 

 a mixture of cow-dung and water, dried and sent to market." 



Character and Value in Commerce. 



There are two sorts of turmeric seen in commerce — the 

 round and the long, but both are the produce of the same 

 plant ; the central rhizomes or root-stocks constituting the 

 round, and the lateral or secondary rhizomes (tubers) the long; 

 the latter are the more abundant. The former are roundish or 

 somewhat ovate, usually from about one inch and a half to two 

 inches in length, and one inch in diameter, pointed at one end, 

 and marked externally with annular ridges. They are often 

 cut into halves. The latter are somewhat cylindrical, more or 

 less curved, pointed at the two extremities, frequently having 

 on their sides one or more short knobs or shoots, about the 

 thickness of the little finger, two or three inches long, and 

 marked externally with annular ridges. Both sorts are 

 yellowish externally, very hard and firm, and when broken 

 having a wavy-resinous appearance, and an orange-yellow or 

 reddish-brown colour. The powder is orange-yellow. Turmeric 

 has an aromatic taste and odour somewhat resembling ginger, 

 but peculiar. When chewed it tinges the saliva yellow. 



