The wonder spice from Asia, turmeric's primary pigment and active ingredient called curcumin (a polyphenol) is typically used as a food colour in dairy products, beverages, cereal, confectionary, ice cream, bakery, and savoury products and also believed to have antimicrobial and cholesterol lowering properties.

These days, curcumin is gaining much interest as an added-value ingredient in a variety of food applications. In addition, epidemiological studies have previously linked high turmeric intake to lower rates of leukaemia, breast, lung and colon cancer.

Turmeric is mainly grown in Southeast Asia and the demand for the polyphenol has increased at the back of numerous health studies and growing demand for healthy ingredients. The Danish ingredient firm, Chr Hansen has been issued approval by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its process of deriving curcumin from turmeric.

Source: NutraIngredients