Sichuan Turmeric

Sichuan Turmeric

　　Turmeric, with the scientific name Dioscorea zingiberensis, is commonly known as Fire Vine Root or Pink Turmeric. It belongs to the Dioscoreaceae family and is a perennial herbaceous climbing vine plant. Its active ingredient is the abundant steroidal sapogenin (i.e., diosgenin) contained in the rhizomes, which serves as the starting material for synthesizing steroidal hormone drugs. Under the World Health Organization's ban on chemically synthesized steroidal hormones, there is currently no alternative raw material to turmeric. Turmeric is produced in China and Mexico. The main production area in China is the Qinba Mountain Range, while the southwestern region is the most suitable habitat for turmeric growth, especially in southwestern Sichuan where the quality of turmeric is the highest, generally with a crude drug content of over 3.5%. Turmeric is native to tropical regions of China and Southeast Asia, with the earliest records coming from Assyria in Western Asia around 600 BC. In the Middle Ages, it was called Indian Saffron in Europe because this type of ginger could also be used as a dye. It has been cultivated in China since ancient times and is widely distributed across the country, grown in most central and southern areas except for the cold northeastern and northwestern regions. It is an upright perennial plant with erect leaves and ornamental inflorescences. The narrow, multi-branched underground rhizomes are orange in color. It is commonly cultivated as a spice.

Uses of Turmeric: The peeled and ground rhizomes, along with other spices including cloves, coriander seeds, cumin, ginger, chili, and cinnamon, are components of curry powder. Turmeric is also used to color water when cooking sticky rice to make turmeric rice, which is consumed by Malaysians during festivals. European food processing plants also use turmeric as a dye for certain foods. Fresh turmeric sapogenin can also be extracted to synthesize dihydroxyacetone.

Clever Uses of Turmeric: Common cooking varieties of ginger include young ginger, turmeric, old ginger, and glazed ginger. Young ginger has thin skin and tender flesh with a mild flavor; turmeric has a fragrance that intensifies from mild to strong, with texture changing from soft to firm, making it a premium type of ginger; old ginger, also known as ginger mother or seed ginger, has thick and firm flesh with a spicy taste but less aroma than turmeric; glazed ginger, which comes with ginger sprouts, can be used as a side dish or for pickling, and has a very delicious flavor.

Development Prospects of Turmeric: Sapogenin is the starting material for steroidal hormone drugs. In the past, due to the shortage of turmeric as a raw material, many hormone medications used substitutes. In 1992, the World Health Organization announced a ban on the use of substitutes, stipulating that steroidal hormone drugs must be synthesized mainly from sapogenin derived from turmeric. As a result, turmeric became a highly sought-after product in the international market, with a significant supply-demand imbalance. The global annual consumption of sapogenin is about 2,800 tons, with China consuming about 1,000 tons. Currently, China’s sapogenin production capacity is approximately 900 tons, with an annual export volume of 200 tons, leaving a domestic supply gap of 300 tons. In recent years, the demand for sapogenin has been increasing at a rate of 6–7% per year. In the late 1980s, the price of sapogenin was 180,000 yuan per ton; by the late 1990s, the price had risen to 400,000–450,000 yuan per ton.

Ten-Thousand-Mu Turmeric Production Base: This base is located within the territories of Emeishan, Jiajiang, Muchuan, and Qianwei under the jurisdiction of Leshan City, distributed near National Highway 213 and the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. Covering an area of 50,000 mu, it is one of the largest turmeric production areas in Sichuan Province, with over 100 years of planting history. The main harvest season is autumn, yielding 80,000 tons of fresh turmeric annually. The base also hosts more than 10 enterprises for processing turmeric juice and turmeric slices, with turmeric slices being exported to countries such as Southeast Asia and Japan.